Binomial expansion, power series,

limits,
approximations

Binomial expansion

We know that
(a + b)1 = a + b
(a + b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2
(a + b)3 = a3 + 3a2 b + 3ab2 + b3
The question is (at this stage): what about (a + b)n where n is any positive integer?

1.1

Pascals triangle
1
1

1
1

5
6

1
1

10

10

15

20

15

To expand (a + b)n we look for the row starting with 1 and n.

1.2

Example

Lets expand (a + b)3 . The row in Pascals triangle starting with 1 and 3 is
1

Therefore the expansion of (a + b)3 is

(a + b)3 = a3 + 3a2 b + 3ab2 + b3

1.3

Example

Lets expand (a + b)6 .

The row starting with 1 and 6 in Pascals triangle is the row
1

15

20

15

This means that the expansion of (a + b)6 is

(a + b)6 = a6 + 6a5 b + 15a4 b2 + 20a3 b3 + 15a2 b4 + 6ab5 + b6

1.4

Factorial notation

The factorial n! of a positive integer n is defined by

n! = n(n 1)(n 2) (3)(2)(1)
so for example
5! = 5 4 3 2 1 = 120
and
8! = 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 = 40320
We work with the convention that
1! = 1

and

0! = 1

Expressions involving factorials can often be simplified as shown in the example below:
8!
87654321
876
=
=
= 56
5! 3!
(5 4 3 2 1)(3 2 1)
6

1.5

Binomial theorem

Pascals triangle can be difficult to use if the exponent is very high. In such cases the
following binomial theorem is usually better. This states that if n is a positive
integer then
n(n 1) n2 2 n(n 1)(n 2) n3 3
a b +
a b + + bn
2!
3!

(a + b)n = an + nan1 b +

An important particular case is when a = 1 and b = x giving

(1 + x)n = 1 + nx +

n(n 1) 2 n(n 1)(n 2) 3

x +
x + + xn
2!
3!

(1.1)

which, like the previous result, holds for positive integers n.

In the binomial theorem, the general term has the form anm bm with coefficient
n(n 1)(n 2) (n (m 1))
m!
which equals
n(n 1)(n 2) (n (m 1))(n m)!
m! (n m)!
or
n!
m! (n m)!

often denoted

n
m

In terms of the notation introduced above, the binomial theorem can be written as
n

(a+b) =

n
0

!
n

a +

n
1

!
n1

b+

n
2

!
n2 2

b + +

n
n

!
n

b =

n
X
i=0

n
i

ani bi

1.6

Example


4

Expand 2 + x3 .
Solution. Using the binomial theorem:


x
2+
3

1.7

4

x
(4)(3) 2 x 2 (4)(3)(2)
x
(4)(3)(2)(1) x 4
= 24 + (4)(23 )( ) +
(2 )( ) +
(2)( )3 +
( )
3
2!
3
3!
3
4!
3
8 2
8 3
1 4
32
= 16 + x + x + x + x .
3
3
27
81

Example


15

Expand 1 + x3
up to and including the term in x3 .
Solution. By the binomial theorem:


1.8

x
1+
3

15

x
(15)(14) x 2 (15)(14)(13) x 3
= 1 + 15( ) +
( ) +
( ) +
3
2!
3
3!
3
35 2 455 3
= 1 + 5x + x +
x +
3
27

Example

Expand (1 x)3 (2 + x)6 up to and including the term in x2 .

Solution.
!

(1 x)3 (2 + x)6 = (1 x)3

(6)(5) 4 2
(2 )x +
26 + (6)(25 )x +
2!

(3)(2)
2
=
(x)2 + (x)3
1 + 3(x) +
(64 + 192x + 240x + )
| {z }
2!
redundant

= (1 3x + 3x x )(64 + 192x + 240x2 + )

= 64 + (192 (64)(3))x + (3(64) 3(192) + 240)x2
= 64 144x2 +

1.9

Powers that are NOT positive integers

The binomial expansion as discussed up to now is for the case when the exponent is
a positive integer only.
For the case when the number n is not a positive integer the binomial theorem
becomes, for 1 < x < 1,
(1 + x)n = 1 + nx +

n(n 1) 2 n(n 1)(n 2) 3

x +
x +
2!
3!

(1.2)

This might look the same as the binomial expansion given by expression (1.1), but
let us make the following important distinctions between (1.1) and (1.2):

 the expansion for positive integer powers (expansion (1.1)) terminates, i.e. it
has only a finite number of terms. However, for powers that are not positive
integers the series (1.2) is an infinite series that goes on forever.
it can be mathematically proven that the series (1.2) is valid only for 1 < x <
1.
expression (1.2) cannot be applied to something of the form (a + x)n . Such an
expression must first be rewritten as follows:
x
(a + x) = a 1 +
a
 

n

=a

x n
1+
|
{za }


apply binomial to this

1.10

Example

Expand 1 + 2x and state what values of x the series is valid.

Solution.

1 + 2x = (1 + 2x)1/2
( 1 )( 12 )
( 1 )( 21 )( 32 )
( 1 )( 12 )( 23 )( 52 )
1
= 1 + (2x) + 2
(2x)2 + 2
(2x)3 + 2
(2x)4 +
2
2!
3!
4!
1
1
5
= 1 + x x2 + x3 x4 +
2
2
8
This series is valid when 1 < 2x < 1. i.e. when 12 < x < 12 .

1.11

Example


Expand 1
Solution.


x
1
2

5

x
2

5

. For what values of x is the expansion valid?

x
(5)(6)
x
= 1 + (5)
+

2
2!
2
5
15 2 35 3
= 1 + x + x + x +
2
4
8


2

x
(5)(6)(7)
+

3!
2


3

This is valid when 1 < x2 < 1, i.e. when 2 < x < 2.

1.12

Example
1

Expand (3 + x) 2 .
Solution. Remember that when the power is not a positive integer your expression
has to be of the form (1 + something)power . Deal with this as follows:
12

(3 + x)

x
3 1+
3

 

 1
2

12

=3

x
1+
|
{z3

 1

expand this

( 12 )( 32 ) x 2
1 x
= 3
1 + ( )( ) +
( ) +
2 3
2!
3
!
2
1
x x
= 1 +
+
6 24
3

21

This is valid when 1 < x/3 < 1, i.e. when 3 < x < 3.

1.13

Example
1/2

for the cases (i) |x| > 1 and (ii) 0 < x < 1.
Find expansions for 1 + x1
Solution. the following calculation produces an expansion which will be valid
when 1/|x| < 1, i.e. |x| > 1:


1
1+
x

( 1 )( 21 ) 1 2 ( 12 )( 12 )( 23 ) 1
1 1
= 1+
+ 2
+
2 x
2!
x
3!
x
1
1
1
= 1+

+
+
2x 8x2 16x3

1/2

 

 3

 

valid for |x| > 1.

The above expansion is no good if |x| < 1. For this case the following trick
produces a valid expansion:


1
1+
x

1/2

x+1
x

1/2

1
x1/2

(1 + x)1/2
|

{z

expand this
1
( 2 )( 12 ) 2

( 1 )( 12 )( 23 ) 3
1
= 1/2 1 + x +
x + 2
x +
x
2
2!
3!


1
1
1 2
1 3
= 1/2 1 + x x + x +
x
2
8
16
1 1/2 1 3/2
1
1
= 1/2 + x x + x5/2 +
x
2
8
16
1

Note that this is actually defined only for 0 < x < 1.

1.14

Example
2

(1+x)
2
Expand (1x/2)
3 up to and including the term in x .
Solution.

(1 + x)2
x
2
=
(1
+
x)
1

(1 x/2)3
2


3

x
(3)(4)
x
= (1 + 2x + x ) 1 + (3)
+

2
2!
2
!
2
3x 3x
= (1 + 2x + x2 ) 1 +
+
+
2
2


2

3
3
3 2
+2 x+ 1+2
+
x +
2
2
2
7x 11x2
= 1+
+

2
2


 

= 1+

2
2.1

Taylor and Maclaurin series

Taylor series

The idea is to expand a function f (x) about a point a in the form of a sum of powers
of (x a), i.e. to form a series of the form
f (x) = a0 + a1 (x a) + a2 (x a)2 + a3 (x a)3 + =

an (x a)n

(2.3)

n=0

we want to know the coefficients an , n = 0, 1, 2, . . . in the above expansion.

If we differentiate expression (2.3) again and again, we get the following expressions for the first, second, third, etc derivatives of f (x):
f 0 (x) = a1 + 2a2 (x a) + 3a3 (x a)2 + 4a4 (x a)3 +
f 00 (x) = 2a2 + (3)(2)a3 (x a) + (4)(3)a4 (x a)2 +
f 000 (x) = (3)(2)a3 + (4)(3)(2)a4 (x a) +
..
..
.
.
Putting x = a in these expressions gives
f 0 (a) = a1

a1 = f 0 (a)
1
a2 = f 00 (a)
2

f 00 (a) = 2a2

f 000 (a) = (3)(2)a3

a3 =

1
f 000 (a)
(2)(3)

Spotting the pattern, we see that the general formula for the coefficient an will be
an =

1 (n)
f (a)
n!

where f (n) (a) means the nth derivative of f (x), evaluated at the value x = a.
This gives us what we call the Taylor expansion of a function f (x) valid for
values of x near to a:
f (x) = f (a) + (x a)f 0 (a) +

(x a)3 000
(x a)2 00
f (a) +
f (a) +
2!
3!
n

(2.4)

The series carries on to infinity, and has general term (xa)

f (n) (a).
n!
Taylors expansion, and the related Maclaurin expansion discussed below, are
used in approximations. In practice usually only the first few terms in the series are
kept and the rest are discarded. The idea is that the resulting truncated expansion
should provide a good approximation to the function f (x) for values of x close to the
particular value a. The more terms we keep, the better the approximation.

2.2

Maclaurin series

There is also the Maclaurin expansion, which is just the Taylor expansion in the
particular case when a = 0, i.e.
f (x) = f (0) + xf 0 (0) +
or, in summation notation
f (x) =

x2 00
x3
f (0) + f 000 (0) +
2!
3!

X
n=0

f (n) (0)

(2.5)

xn
n!

Not all functions have Taylor or Maclaurin expansions but most do.

2.3

Example

Let us find the Maclaurin series of ex .

Solution. Let f (x) = ex .
Then f (0) = 1.
Also f 0 (x) = ex so f 0 (0) = 1.
f 00 (x) = ex so f 00 (0) = 1. Clearly in this particular example f (n) (0) = 1 for all
n = 1, 2, 3, . . .. Putting these values for f (0), f 0 (0), f 00 (0), etc, into (2.5) gives us the
Maclaurin series for the particular function f (x) = ex , namely
ex = 1 + x +
or, in summation notation, ex =

2.4

x2 x3
+
+
2!
3!

xn
n=0 n!

Example

Deduce the Maclaurin series of e5x from that for ex .

Solution. Just replace every x by 5x in expression (2.6) above to get
(5x)2 (5x)3
+
+
2!
3!
25x2 125x3
= 1 + 5x +
+
+
2
6

e5x = 1 + 5x +

2.5

Example

Find the Maclaurin series of cos x.

Solution. Let f (x) = cos x.
Then f (0) = 1.
Also f 0 (x) = sin x so f 0 (0) = 0.
f 00 (x) = cos x so f 00 (0) = 1.
f 000 (x) = sin x so f 000 (0) = 0.

(2.6)

f 0000 (x) = cos x so f 0000 (0) = 1.

f 00000 (x) = sin x so f 00000 (0) = 0.
We see the pattern emerging. The values f (0), f 0 (0), f 00 (0), f 000 (0), etc, cycle through the values 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, . . .. Putting these values into the general Maclaurin expansion (2.5) gives the Maclaurin expansion for the function cos x,
namely
x2 x4
cos x = 1
+

2!
4!
or, in summation notation,

X
(1)n x2n
cos x =
(2n)!
n=0
Similarly, it can be shown that the Maclaurin expansion of sin x is
sin x = x

2.6

x3 x5
+

3!
5!

Example

Find the Taylor series of the function f (x) = 1/x about x = 2.

Solution. We are asked for a Taylor series here, not the Maclaurin one. The
relevant formula is therefore (2.4) in the case when a = 2. So we need to work out
the values f (2), f 0 (2), f 00 (2), etc. We do this next:
f (2) = 12 .
f 0 (x) = x12 so f 0 (2) = 14 .
f 00 (x) = x23 so f 00 (2) = 14 .
f 000 (x) = x64 so f 000 (2) = 83 ,
and so on. The Taylor series about the value x = 2 is
f (x) = f (2) + (x 2)f 0 (2) +

(x 2)2 00
(x 2)3 000
f (2) +
f (2) +
2!
3!

which becomes, since f (x) = 1/x,

1
1 1
1
1
= (x 2) + (x 2)2 (x 2)3 +
x
2 4
8
16
What this means, is that the first few terms of the above series expansion will constitute a good approximation to 1/x for values of x close to 2.
Note that the function f (x) = 1/x does not have a Taylor series expansion about
the point x = 0. This is because this function goes to infinity as x 0, so we could
hardly expect the function to have an approximation for small values of x as a series
of powers of x. Had we attempted to find f (0), f 0 (0), f 00 (0), etc, they would all turn
out to be infinity.

2.7

Example

Find the first three non-zero terms of the Maclaurin series of e2x sin x.
Solution. One way to do this would be to write down the Maclaurin series for
e2x (which can be inferred from the one for ex by replacing every x by 2x) and
the series for sin x and then multiplying the series together and expanding out. The
approach below is a direct approach not requiring such advance knowledge of the two
separate Maclaurin expansions.
Let f (x) = e2x sin x. Then f (0) = 0.
f 0 (x) = e2x cos x 2e2x sin x so f 0 (0) = 1. Differentiating again
f 00 (x) = e2x ( sin x) 2e2x cos x 2(e2x cos x 2e2x sin x)
= 3e2x sin x 4e2x cos x
and
f 000 (x) = 3(e2x cos x 2e2x sin x) 4(e2x sin x 2e2x cos x)
From these expressions we get f 00 (0) = 4 and f 000 (0) = 11. Putting these values into
the general Maclaurin series (2.5) gives the following expression for our particular
function f (x) = e2x sin x:
e2x sin x = x 2x2 +

11x3
+
6

which will constitute a good approximation to e2x sin x provided x is reasonably

small.

2.8

Example

Find the binomial expansion of (1 x2 )1/2 and deduce from it a power series expansion for sin1 x.
Solution. First we find the expansion of (1 + x)1/2 .
1/2

(1 + x)

( 12 )( 23 ) 2 ( 21 )( 23 )( 25 ) 3
1
x +
x +
= 1 + ( )x +
2
2!
3!
1
5
3
= 1 x + x2 x3 +
2
8
16

In the above, we now replace every x by x2 to deduce that

3
5
1
(1 x2 )1/2 = 1 (x2 ) + (x2 )2 (x2 )3 +
2
8
16
1 2 3 4
5 6
= 1 + x + x + x +
2
8
16
Now
sin

x =

Z x
0

dt
1 t2

10

Z x

(1 t2 )1/2 dt

Z x

3
5
1
1 + t2 + t4 + t6 + dt
2
8
16
0
3 5
5 7
1 3
x +
= x+ x + x +
6
40
112
=

Applications to working out limits

The notation
lim f (x)

xa

means the value (if any) that f (x) approaches, when x approaches a. The word lim
means limit.

3.1

Important issues to do with limits

Two trivial examples of working out limits would be

lim (x2 3) = 1,

lim cos x = 1

x2

x0

In the above examples we can just put the value in. But in many situations we cannot
do this because we end up with the mathematically meaningless expression 00 which
could be anything.
For example, lets work out
x2 4
lim
x2 x 2
In this example we cannot put x = 2 into the expression otherwise we get 00 which
could be anything. But we can simplify the expression by factorising and cancelling
factors to get
(x 2)(x + 2)
x2 4
= lim
= lim (x + 2) = 4
x2
x2
x2 x 2
x2
lim

Similarly, lets work out

x2 + x 2
x1
x2 x
lim

Again we cannot just put x = 1 into this expression or we would get 00 . But we can
factorise and simplify as follows:
x2 + x 2
(x 1)(x + 2)
x+2
=
lim
=
lim
= 3.
x1
x1
x1
x2 x
x(x 1)
x
lim

It is not always possible to work out limits simply by looking for factors and simplifying as in the above examples. We now want to add binomial expansion and
Taylor/Maclaurin series to our list of methods for working out limits.

11

3.2

Example

Lets work out

(1 + x/2)5/7 1
x0
x
Again, we cannot put x = 0 into this expression as it stands. But we can use binomial
expansion, as follows;
lim


5/7

(1 + x/2)
x

1 + ( 75 )( x2 ) +

=
=

( 75 )( 27 ) x 2
(2)
2!

+ 1

x
5
x
14

5
x2
196

x
5
5
=

x +
14 196
We can let x 0 in the above expression to deduce that
5
(1 + x/2)5/7 1
=
x0
x
14
lim

3.3

Example

Lets work out

sin x
x0 x
Solution. We mentioned earlier that
lim

sin x = x

and

sin 2x
x0
x
lim

x3 x5 x7
+

+
3!
5!
7!

Hence

sin x
x2 x4 x6
=1
+

+
x
3!
5!
7!
We can let x 0 in this to deduce that
sin x
lim
=1
x0 x
From the Maclaurin expansion for sin x given above, we can deduce the expansion for
sin 2x to be
(2x)3 (2x)5
+

sin 2x = 2x
3!
5!
4x3 32x5
= 2x
+

3
120
Hence
sin 2x
4x2
=2
+
x
3
Letting x 0 we deduce that
sin 2x
lim
=2
x0
x
It is in fact a general result that limx0 sinxkx = k for any constant k.

12

3.4

Example

Find

sin2 x x2 cos x
x0
x4
lim

Solution. Recall that

sin x = x

x3 x5 x7
+

+
3!
5!
7!

cos x = 1

x2 x4 x6
+

+
2!
4!
6!

and
Squaring the formula for sin x gives

x5
x3
x5
x3
+
x
+

sin x = x
6
120
6
120
x4
x4
= x2
+ (something) x6
+ (something) x6
6
6
4
x
= x2
+ (something) x6
3
Hence, using also the expansion for cos x given above, we have
!

sin2 x x2 cos x
=
x4

x2

x4
3

+ (something) x6 + x2 1

x2
2

x4
24

x4
1 4
x + (something) x6 + even higher powers of x
= 6
x4
1
=
+ (something) x2 +
6
Let x 0 in the above to get
1
sin2 x x2 cos x
=
4
x0
x
6
lim

3.5

Example

Find
lim x(e1/x 1)

Solution. To deal with x going to infinity, we shall let y = 1/x and let y 0. This
gives
1 y
1/x
(e 1)
lim
x(e

1)
=
lim
x
y0 y
(
)
!
1
(y)2
= lim
1 + (y) +
+ 1
y0 y
2!


y
= lim 1 + +
y0
2!
= 1
where we have used the Maclaurin expansion for the exponential, given by (2.6).

13

LHopitals rule

Another way of working out a limit when in a

if f (a) = 0 and g(a) = 0 then

0
0

situation is the following result:

f (x)
f 0 (x)
lim
= lim 0
xa g(x)
xa g (x)

The above result is called LHopitals rule.

It is absolutely crucial to check the condition f (a) = 0 and g(a) = 0 before using
the rule, because it does not work otherwise.

4.1

Example
3x sin x
x0
x
3 cos x
= lim
x0
1
3

cos
0
=
1
lim

would be

0
0

no longer

0
0

if we put x = 0 in, so use LHopital

=2

4.2

Example
1 cos x
x0 x + x2
sin x
= lim
x0 1 + 2x
= 01
lim

would be

0
0

no longer

0
0

if we put x = 0 in, so use LHopital

=0

4.3

Example
lim

x2

x2
1
1
= lim
=
2
x2
x 4
2x
4

Sometimes we have to apply LHopitals rule more than once to get an answer, as the
next example illustrates:

14

4.4

Example
x sin x
x0
x3
1 cos x
= lim
x0
3x2
sin x
= lim
x0 6x
cos x
= lim
x0
6
1
=6
lim

4.5

0
0

so use LHopital

still

0
0

so use LHopital again

still

0
0

so use LHopital again

no longer

0
0

Example
ln cos x
x0 ln cos 3x

0
0

lim

= lim 

sin x
cos
x

sin 3x
3cos
3x
tan x
= lim
x0 3 tan 3x
sec2 x
= lim
x0 9 sec2 3x
= 19
x0

so use LHopital

now simplify this

still

0
0

so use LHopital again

no longer

15

0
0