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When we expand (2x + 1/2)^6, what is the coefficient on the x^4 term?

User Isaachess
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Answer: The coefficient before x^4 is 60

Explanation:

Hey! So I am not an expert at this, but you have to use the binomial theorem

I have attached of the Pascals Triangle (one shows the row numbering as well)

Basically in a pascal triangle, you add the two numbers above it to get the next number below

As you can see, the rows start from 0 instead of 1

The 6th row contains the numbers 1, 6, 15, 20, 15, 6, 1 which would be the coefficient terms

NOTE: the exponents always add to 6, the first term starts at 6 and decrease it's exponent by 1 each time (6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0) and the second term increases it's exponent by 1 each time (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

Using this information the third term from the sixth row (15) would be where it is x^4 (I have circled it on the second image)

It would be 15 × 2^4 × (1/2)^2 = 60

The reason why it is 2^4 and (1/2)^2 is because the third term has the exponents 4 and 2 (bolded on the NOTE) which means that the first term must be put to the power of 4 and the second term must be put to the 2nd power

Sorry for the lousy explanation. I really hope this makes sense! Let me know if this helped :)

When we expand (2x + 1/2)^6, what is the coefficient on the x^4 term?-example-1
When we expand (2x + 1/2)^6, what is the coefficient on the x^4 term?-example-2
User Shyam Bhat
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