Which of the following can he use to find the coefficient for the a4b2 term?(1 point) Responses 4C2 subscript 4 baseline upper C subscript 2 baseline 6C3 subscript Geoffrey writes out the binomial expansion of (a+b)6 using the Binomial Theorem6

1 answer

To find the coefficient of the \(a^4b^2\) term in the binomial expansion of \((a+b)^6\), you can use the Binomial Theorem, which states:

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

Here, \(n\) is the total exponent (in this case, 6), and \(k\) is the number of times \(b\) is included in the term.

For the term \(a^4b^2\):

  • The exponent of \(a\) is 4, which means \(n-k=4\); given \(n=6\), we find \(k=2\) since \(6-2=4\).
  • The exponent of \(b\) is 2, which corresponds to \(k=2\).

The coefficient for the term \(a^4b^2\) can be calculated using the binomial coefficient \(\binom{n}{k} = \binom{6}{2}\):

\[ \text{Coefficient of } a^4b^2 = \binom{6}{2} = \frac{6!}{2!(6-2)!} = \frac{6!}{2! \cdot 4!} = \frac{6 \times 5}{2 \times 1} = 15. \]

In summary, to find the coefficient for the \(a^4b^2\) term, he would use:

\[ \binom{6}{2} \]

So, the answer is \(6C2\) (the second option in your list).