Applications of Binomial Expansion
How can I use the binomial expansion with more complex expressions?
- You may be asked to find a series expansion for an expression like
- Rewrite as a product,
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- Find the binomial expansion of
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- Note this has only been expanded up to the term
- Multiply that expansion by and simplify
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- This is only valid up to the term
- To get more terms we would have to start with more terms for
- is not the correct term for as there are more terms that were not found
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- Use the same process to find the expansion for something like
- Rewrite as a product,
- Find the binomial expansion of
- Multiply the expansion by and simplify
How can I use the binomial expansion to estimate a value?
- The binomial expansion can be used to find estimates or approximations
- When , higher powers of will be very small
- So even the first 3 or 4 terms of an expansion can form a good approximation
- The more terms used the closer the approximation will be to the true value
- Also the closer to zero is, the better the approximation will be
- For example, find an approximation for using the expansion of
- Compare the value you are approximating to the expression being expanded
- Find the value of to use by solving the appropriate equation
- Compare the value you are approximating to the expression being expanded
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- Substitute this value of into the binomial expansion of
- So
- The true value of is
- Substitute this value of into the binomial expansion of
- On the exam this is often used to approximate square roots
- It can also be used to approximate other things
- For example approximate the fraction using the binomial expansion of
- So substitute into the expansion
- Always check that the value of is within the interval of convergence for the expansion
- If is outside the interval of convergence then the approximation is not reliable
How can I use the binomial expansion with calculus?
- A complete binomial expansion is exactly equal to the function it represents
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- This means that it is valid to differentiate or integrate a binomial expansion
- These will always be powers of derivatives or integrals
- This means that it is valid to differentiate or integrate a binomial expansion
- For example, the function
- We saw above that
- We can differentiate that:
- Or integrate it
- This can be used to find estimates or approximations
- For example to estimate
- Integrate the binomial expansion (as we just did above)
- The true value of the integral is 0.178079...
- Always check that any values of you use are within the interval of convergence for the expansion
- This includes the integration limits if you are approximating a definite integral
- If any values are outside the interval of convergence then the approximation is not reliable
How can I find the percentage error of an approximation?
- Use the following formula
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- is the exact value
- is the approximated value
- The exact value must be in the denominator!
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- Percentage errors are usually given as positive values
- If the formula gives you a negative value, you can just remove the minus sign
- But you will usually get the marks for a correct positive or negative answer
Exam Tip
- When substituting values of into a binomial expansion
- Always make sure they are within the interval of convergence
- If they are not then you may have made a mistake earlier in the question
Worked example
The binomial expansion of is , with interval of convergence .
(a)
Use the expansion to estimate the value of , giving your answer as a fraction.
Find the value of you need to use
That is within the interval of convergence , so we can use it to find approximation
Substitute it into the expansion
(b)
Find the percentage error, to 3 decimal places, of your approximation from the actual value.
Use
Make sure the exact value is in the denominator!
That is negative because the approximated value is greater than the exact value
Percentage errors are usually given as positive numbers, so remove the minus sign
Round to 3 decimal places