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The Binomial Theorem is a quick way (okay, a less slow way) of expanding (multiplying out) a binomial that has been raised to some (generally inconveniently large) power. For instance, given (3x – 2)10, would you want to multiply this out by hand? I know I wouldn't. Somebody figured out a formula for this expansion, and we can plug the binomial 3x – 2 and the power 10 into that formula to get the expansion (the multiplied-out form of the polynomial).

http://www.purplemath.com/modules/binomial.htm

As painful as the Binomial-Theorem process is, it's still easier than trying to multiply this stuff out by hand. So don't let the Formula put you off. It's just another thing to memorize, so memorize it, at least for the next test. The biggest source of errors in the Binomial Theorem (other than forgetting the Theorem) is the simplification process.


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"...I could never remember the formula for the Binomial Theorem, so instead, I just learned how it worked. I noticed that the powers on each term in the expansion always added up to whatever n was, and that the terms counted up from zero to n.."




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--Last edited by saucer on 2007-08-17 23:45:36 --