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Mathematics 13 Online
OpenStudy (bethgrace96):

How would you expand (x + y)^4 ? (will become a fan&& give medal!)

zepdrix (zepdrix):

When expanding \(\Large\rm (x+y)^n\) You'll always end up with \(\Large\rm n+1\) terms. So since we have a 4th degree binomial, we'll end up with 5 terms. Each term will consist of `a coefficient` (we'll get back to that later), and powers on x and y. The power starts at 4 on x, and counts down. it starts at 0 on y and counts up.\[\Large\rm (x + y)^4=\text{_}x^4y^0+\text{_}x^3y^1+\text{_}x^2y^2+\text{_}x^1y^3+\text{_}x^0y^4\]

zepdrix (zepdrix):

See how the x's are counting down? I left a little space in front of each term so we can fill in the coefficients.

zepdrix (zepdrix):

To get the correct coefficients, turn to Pascal's Triangle.|dw:1400543897464:dw|

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