Pascal Triangle and Pascal Rule
Uploaded by
Mike JonesPascal Triangle and Pascal Rule
Uploaded by
Mike JonesPascal’s triangle and Pascal’s rule
(In the Public Domain. No rights reserved.)
001
001 001
001 002 001
001 003 003 001
001 004 006 004 001
001 005 010 010 005 001
001 006 015 020 015 006 001
001 007 021 035 035 021 007 001
001 008 028 056 070 056 028 008 001
001 009 036 084 126 126 084 036 009 001
001 010 045 120 210 252 210 120 045 010 001
Pascal’s triangle, given up to row 10 above, is infinite. The rows are considered to be numbered starting with 0, and the entries in each
row are considered to be numbered starting at 0. We will use (n; k) to indicate entry k in row n. Part of the power of Pascal’s triangle
is the fact that (n; k) is equal to the number of ways of choosing k things from n things, which is n!/((n – k)!k!). For example,
(7; 2) = 21, so there are 21 ways of choosing 2 things from 7 things.
Theorem. (n; k) = (n – 1; k – 1) + (n – 1; k). (This is known as Pascal’s rule.)
topological proof: Let there be n things from which k are to be chosen. Let x be one of them. Let P be the number of ways of
choosing k elements such that x is one of the k elements, and let Q be the number of ways of choosing k elements such that x is not
one of the k elements. Then P = (n – 1; k – 1), because we must choose k – 1 elements from the remaining n – 1 elements, and
Q = (n – 1; k), because we must choose k elements from the remaining n – 1 elements. But (n; k) = P + Q, so the conclusion follows.
algebraic proof: (n – 1; k – 1) + (n – 1; k) = (n – 1)!/(((n – 1) – (k – 1))!(k – 1)!) + (n – 1)!/(((n – 1) – k)!k!)
= (n – 1)!/((n – k)!(k – 1)!) + (n – 1)!/((n – k – 1)!k!) = (n – 1)!k/((n – k)!k!) + (n – 1)!(n – k)/((n – k)!k!)
= n!/((n – k)!k!) = (n; k), Q.E.D.
(end of document)
