(2x-y)6 Since the exponent is 6 there will be one more than 6 terms, or 7 terms. They are: C(6,6)(2x)6(-y)0 + C(6,5)(2x)5(-y)1 + C(6,4)(2x)4(-y)2 + C(6,3)(2x)3(-y)3 + C(6,2)(2x)2(-y)4 + C(6,1)(2x)1(-y)5 + C(6,0)(2x)0(-y)6 Study the formation of the above 7 terms. Notice that each of the 7 terms is of this form: C(6,_)(2x)¯(-y)¯ The first two blanks are the same, they start with 6 and go down to 0 and the last blank starts at 0 and goes up to 6 I will assume you understand how to calculate the binomial coefficients using this formula: n! C(n,r) = ---------- r!(n-r)! where M! = M(M-1)(M-2)···3·2·1 If you don't understand that, post again. Maybe your book uses nCr instead but if so, it's the same as C(n,r) C(6,6)(2x)6(-y)0 = 1(26x6)(-y)0 = 1(64)x6(1) = 64x6 C(6,5)(2x)5(-y)1 = 6(25x5)(-y)1 = 6(32)x5(-y) = -192x5y C(6,4)(2x)4(-y)2 = 15(24x4)(-y)2 = 15(16)x4y2 = 240x4y2 C(6,3)(2x)3(-y)3 = 20(23x3)(-y)3 = 20(8)x3(-y3) = -160x3y3 C(6,2)(2x)2(-y)4 = 15(22x2)(-y)4 = 15(4)x2y4 = 60x2y4 C(6,1)(2x)1(-y)5 = 6(21x1)(-y)5 = 6(2)x1(-y5) = -12xy5 C(6,0)(2x)0(-y)6 = 1(20x0)(-y)6 = 1(1)x0y6 = 1(1)1y6 = y6 Answer: (2x - y)6 = 64x6 - 192x5y + 240x4y2 - 160x3y3 + 60x2y4 - 12xy5 + y6 Edwin