Make a Pascal's triangle down to the line that starts with 1 4 Start with this. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Add the two 1's on the second row and place it underneath them on the third row: 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 Add the 1 and the 2 on the 2nd row getting 3 and place the 3 between them on the 3rd row 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 1 1 1 Add the 2 and the 1 on the 3rd row getting 3 and place the 3 between them on the 4th row 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 Add the 1 and the 3 on the 4th row getting 4 and place the 4 between them on the 5th row 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 3 1 1 4 1 Add the 3 and the 3 on the 4th row getting 6 and place the 6 between them on the 5th row 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 3 1 1 4 6 1 Add the 3 and the 1 on the 4th row getting 4 and place the 4 between them on the 5th row 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 3 1 1 4 6 4 1 I'll just do the last one: 3. (a + b)4 Take the bottom line of Pascal's triangle: 1 4 6 4 1 1a b +4a b +6a b +4a b +1a b <-- put in "a, space, b" 1a4b +4a3b +6a2b +4a1b +1a b <-- put in a's exponents 4,3,2,1,0 1a4b0+4a3b1+6a2b2+4a1b3+1a0b4 <-- put in b's exponents 0,1,2,3,4 Now you can erase the 1's and b0 and a0 because they are just 1's, too: a4 +4a3b +6a2b2+4a b3+ b4 and close up the spaces: a4+4a3b+6a2b2+4ab3+b4 Do the others the same way with the upper rows of Pascal's triangle. Always use the row that has for its second number (after the 1) the exponent of (a+b). Edwin