Write out the first 6 rows of pascals triangle and use it to find (3x-2y)^5

1 answer

Pascal's Triangle is structured as follows:

Row 0:              1
Row 1:            1   1
Row 2:          1   2   1
Row 3:        1   3   3   1
Row 4:      1   4   6   4   1
Row 5:    1   5  10  10   5   1

To find \((3x - 2y)^5\), we can use the Binomial Theorem, which states:

\[ (a + b)^n = \sum_{k=0}^{n} \binom{n}{k} a^{n-k} b^k \]

For our case, we let \(a = 3x\) and \(b = -2y\), and \(n = 5\).

Using the coefficients from Row 5 of Pascal's Triangle (which correspond to the binomial coefficients \(\binom{5}{k}\)), we have:

  • \(\binom{5}{0} = 1\)
  • \(\binom{5}{1} = 5\)
  • \(\binom{5}{2} = 10\)
  • \(\binom{5}{3} = 10\)
  • \(\binom{5}{4} = 5\)
  • \(\binom{5}{5} = 1\)

Now we can expand \((3x - 2y)^5\):

\[ (3x - 2y)^5 = \sum_{k=0}^{5} \binom{5}{k} (3x)^{5-k} (-2y)^k \]

Calculating each term:

  1. For \(k=0\): \[ \binom{5}{0} (3x)^5 (-2y)^0 = 1 \cdot (3x)^5 \cdot 1 = 243x^5 \]

  2. For \(k=1\): \[ \binom{5}{1} (3x)^4 (-2y)^1 = 5 \cdot (81x^4) \cdot (-2y) = -810x^4y \]

  3. For \(k=2\): \[ \binom{5}{2} (3x)^3 (-2y)^2 = 10 \cdot (27x^3) \cdot (4y^2) = 1080x^3y^2 \]

  4. For \(k=3\): \[ \binom{5}{3} (3x)^2 (-2y)^3 = 10 \cdot (9x^2) \cdot (-8y^3) = -720x^2y^3 \]

  5. For \(k=4\): \[ \binom{5}{4} (3x)^1 (-2y)^4 = 5 \cdot (3x) \cdot (16y^4) = 240xy^4 \]

  6. For \(k=5\): \[ \binom{5}{5} (3x)^0 (-2y)^5 = 1 \cdot 1 \cdot (-32y^5) = -32y^5 \]

Putting it all together:

\[ (3x - 2y)^5 = 243x^5 - 810x^4y + 1080x^3y^2 - 720x^2y^3 + 240xy^4 - 32y^5 \]

Thus, the expansion of \((3x - 2y)^5\) is:

\[ \boxed{243x^5 - 810x^4y + 1080x^3y^2 - 720x^2y^3 + 240xy^4 - 32y^5} \]