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Kawaii Mz Re

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could someone please help me find the constant term of (x^3 - 1/2x^2)^5
and please show working out :eek:
 

clintmyster

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finding coefficient of x0

Tk+1 = 5Ck x (x3)5-k)(-1/2x2)(k)

taking out x terms

(x3)5-k x (x-2k) = x0

15 - 3k - 2k = 0
k = 3


Subbing k = 3 to find coefficient of x0, therefore omit x terms


T3+1 = 5C3 x (13)5-3)(-1/2)(3)
T4 = -5/4
 
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Trebla

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Note the sigma goes from r = 0 to r = 5...
(x³ - 1/2x²)5 = Σ 5Cr (x³)5 - r (-1/2x²)r
= Σ 5Cr (x)15 - 3r (-1/2)r (x)-2r
= Σ 5Cr (x)15 - 5r (-1/2)r
We want the constant term, so we extract that term from the sum by letting 15 - 5r = 0 => r = 3
Hence the constant term is 5C3 (x)0 (-1/2)3 = - 5/4
 
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addikaye03

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Kawaii Mz Re said:
could someone please help me find the constant term of (x^3 - 1/2x^2)^5
and please show working out :eek:
(x^3 - 1/2x^2)^5

Tk+1=nCk a^n-kb^k
Tk+1=5Ck(x^3)^5-k(-1/2x^2)^k
Tk+1=5Ck(x^15-3k)(-1^k)(2x^-2k)

15-3k-2k=0
therefore k=3
T4=5C3(x^3)^2(-1/2x^2)^3
T4=-5C3/8
=-5/4

Pretty sure thats right, basically what u do is use the formula to find the indice of x, since it it constant the indice must =0 when u get it u re sub in eqn. Hope thats adequate explanation.
 

Kawaii Mz Re

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the back of the text book says -1/1/4 but i dont know h ow to get it ><
 

lyounamu

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Kawaii Mz Re said:
could someone please help me find the constant term of (x^3 - 1/2x^2)^5
and please show working out :eek:
it's the fourth term.

so

5C3 (x^3)^2 (-1/2x^2)^3 = -5/4
 

Timothy.Siu

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find the constant term of (x^3 - 1/2x^2)^5

first term has x^15, 2nd has x^10, 3rd has x^5 4th is constant...
4th term is:5C3x1^3 x -1/2^3=-5/4
 

addikaye03

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clintmyster said:
finding coefficient of x0

5Ck x (x3)5-k)(-1/2x2)(k)

taking out x terms

(x3)5-k x (x2k) = x0

15 - 3k + 2k = 0
k = 15


Subbing k = 15
u went wrong cos when u raise 2x from the denominator it has a negative indice.

15-5k then = 0 etc etc
 

lyounamu

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addikaye03 said:
Jesus thats alot of posts for an answer and alot of differing methods.
There are essentially same. It's just the length of each answer. I use table method which takes up about less than 1 minute.
 

Kawaii Mz Re

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whats the '5C3' thingy? =S i ddont know y but our skool only taugh tthe pascal's triangle thingy... =[
 

lyounamu

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Kawaii Mz Re said:
whats the '5C3' thingy? =S i ddont know y but our skool only taugh tthe pascal's triangle thingy... =[
what do you mean?

5C3 means 5C3...????
 

addikaye03

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lyounamu said:
There are essentially same. It's just the length of each answer. I use table method which takes up about less than 1 minute.
yea, well.. slightly differing. If i done it on paper it would take less than one minute using the method i used.
 

lyounamu

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addikaye03 said:
yea, well.. slightly differing. If i done it on paper it would take less than one minute using the method i used.
that's because the nature of the question given was not complicated.

Once you get into the question where the equation gets ridiculous, you will find that doing that way is little bit frustrating.
 

addikaye03

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Kawaii Mz Re said:
whats the '5C3' thingy? =S i ddont know y but our skool only taugh tthe pascal's triangle thingy... =[
its permutations and combinations/binomial theorem notation for 5x4x3x2x1/3x2x1 or 5x4... cant really explain it more than that
 

addikaye03

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lyounamu said:
that's because the nature of the question given was not complicated.

Once you get into the question where the equation gets ridiculous, you will find that doing that way is little bit frustrating.
yer ino, i usually use your method, but i thought for a better explanation and more theoretical i thought i would show the formulation.
 

Kawaii Mz Re

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addikaye03 said:
its permutations and combinations/binomial theorem notation for 5x4x3x2x1/3x2x1 or 5x4... cant really explain it more than that
oooh! okay i get it now! ty soo much! :eek: thank you soo much everyone! =D hopefully ill get through this assessment thingy 2morrow =[
 

Trebla

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My terrible version of Pascal's triangle lol:
1
1 1
1 2 1
1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1
1 5 10 10 5 1

5C3 corresponds to the 3rd co-efficient in the sixth row. It turns out that each term in Pascal's triangle can be expressed in combinatorial form (see your calculator for the combinatorial operation)...observe

0C0
1C0 1C1
2C0 2C1 2C2
3C0 3C1 3C2 3C3
4C0 4C1 4C2 4C3 4C4
5C0 5C1 5C2 5C3 5C4 5C5

Note that nCr = n! / [r!(n - r)!]
 
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