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Exercise 216Combinatorics › Binomial coefficientsHigh schoolAdded 3 Nov 2026

Pascal's triangle

#Pascal triangle#rows#computation

Statement

Write the first 77 rows of Pascal's triangle and read off the coefficients of (a+b)5(a+b)^5.

Hint

Each entry is the sum of the two entries above it.

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Solution

Rows.
- Row 0: 11
- Row 1: 111\quad 1
- Row 2: 1211\quad 2\quad 1
- Row 3: 13311\quad 3\quad 3\quad 1
- Row 4: 146411\quad 4\quad 6\quad 4\quad 1
- Row 5: 151010511\quad 5\quad 10\quad 10\quad 5\quad 1
- Row 6: 16152015611\quad 6\quad 15\quad 20\quad 15\quad 6\quad 1

Coefficients of (a+b)5(a+b)^5. 1,5,10,10,5,11,5,10,10,5,1.

Conclusion. (a+b)5=a5+5a4b+10a3b2+10a2b3+5ab4+b5(a+b)^5=a^5+5a^4b+10a^3b^2+10a^2b^3+5ab^4+b^5.