The Simple Complexity of Pascals Triangle

Pascals triangle is one of the most famous and interesting patterns in

mathematics. In
fact, while studying this triangle that initially appears to consist of a simple
pattern of numbers,
one learns that it contains many complex patterns. This paper briefly looks at the
history of
Pascals triangle and how it is defined and then explores not only its connection
with algebra and
probability, but also some of the intriguing patterns and topics contained within
Pascals triangle.
History
The history of Pascals triangle begins at least 500 years before its name sake,
Blaise
Pascal, was even born. In the 10th and 11th centuries, Indian and Persian
Mathematicians first
started working on this pattern of numbers. Also during the 10th century various
Arab
mathematicians developed a mathematical series for calculating the coeffients
for (1 + x)n when
n is a positive number. In addition, around 1070 Omar Khayyam, a Persian
Mathematician,
astronomer and philosopher worked on the binomial expansion and the
numerical coefficients,
which are the values of a row in Pascals triangle.
In China in the 13th century, hundreds of years before Pascal, Yang Hui worked
on the
exact same pattern as we know it today. Consequently, the Chinese will not refer
the pattern as
Pascals triangle, and even to date it is known as Yang Huis Triangle in China.
It wasnt until around 1654, that the French mathematician and philosopher,
Blaise
Pascal, began to investigate the triangle. His discussions with Peirre de Fermat
on the chance of

getting different values for rolls of dice led him to the triangle. These discussions
later laid the
foundation for the theory of probability. The two major areas where Pascals
triangle is used
today are in algebra and probability specifically in regards to combinatorics.
Pascal is credited
because he investigated and took the information on this system of numbers,
compiled and
organized it so it made sense and was more useful. Pascal died in 1662 at the
age of 39 before his work was published. In 1665, his work Traite du triangle
arithmetique was published. In the
early 1700s, two mathematicians, Pierre Raymond de Montmort and Abraham de
Moivre,
published articles each naming the triangle after Pascal and so it became known
as Pascals
Arithmetic Triangle.
Symbolically Defined
Blaise Pascals work titled Traite du triangle arithmetique when translated into
English
means, A Treatise on the Arithmetical Triangle. In the first part of this publication,
he defines
the triangle as an unbounded rectangular array. Below in Figure 1, is an example
of Pascals
rectangular array and below that to the right is the array rotated 30 degrees to
show the more
familiar triangular appearance.

Most people today are more familiar

with Pascals triangle shown in triangular form
as in Figure 3. For each row of Pascals
Triangle, the first and last entry is a 1. For all
other entries, each term is the sum of the two
numbers that are in the row above it to the
immediate left and right. However, you can think of the triangle as being
surrounded by zeros. Then
Pascals description of adding the previous cell in the same row and the previous
cell in the same
column becomes
adding the two
numbers above the cell
to the right and left
which is illustrated in
Figure 4.

Sum of Each Row

The sum of the numbers in any row in Pascals triangle is equal to 2 to the power
of the
number of the row or 2n where n is the number of the row. (Recall that the first
row is Row 0.)
Figure 7 below illustrates the first 5 rows of Pascals triangle and the
corresponding sum of each row
and their equivalent powers of 2

Pascals Triangle is not only an interesting mathematical work

because of its hidden patterns, but it is also interesting because
of its wide expanse of applications to other areas of
mathematics. As one familiar with algebra may notice, the
numbers in each row of the triangle are precisely the same
numbers that are the coefficients of binomial expansions. For
example, when one expands the binomial, (x + y)3, algebraically it
equals 1x3 + 3x2y + 3xy2 + 1y3. The coefficients of this binomial
expansion, 1 3 3 1, correspond exactly to the numbers in the third
row of Pascals Triangle. In general, the nth row in Pascals
Triangle gives the coefficients of (x + y)n.

The coefficients of Pascals Triangle can also be used in

probability to find out how many subsets of r elements can be
formed from a set with n distinct elements. The symbol for this
is nCr, which is calculated by the following formula:
n

Cr = n! / [r!(n r)!], where n! = n(n 1)(n 2) . . . (3)(2)(1).

In this formula, the n is equal to the row number of the triangle,

while the r is equal to the element number in that particular row.
For example, the number in the seventh row and third element
place is 35. 7C3 should, thus, be equal to 35. Using the formula:
C3 = 7! / [3!(7 3)!] = (7*6*5*4*3*2*1) / (3*2*1*4*3*2*1) =
(7*6*5) / (3*2*1) = 35.
7

Consequently, if one wishes to find the number of subsets of 3

elements that can be formed from a set with 7 distinct elements,
they would just have to look up the number at the seventh row
and third element place in Pascals Triangle. Therefore, Pascals
Triangle is a useful tool in finding, without tedious computations,
the number of subsets of r elements that can be formed from a
set with n distinct elements.
Its known applications in mathematics also extend to calculus,
trigonometry, plane geometry, and solid geometry.
Edwards, A. W. F. (2002). Pascal's arithmetical triangle: the story of a mathematical idea. JHU Press.

Drexel University. (1994-2006) Math Forum: Ask Dr. Math FAQ: Pascals Triangle.
Retrieved
from the web on May 30, 2011 from
http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/faq.pascal.triangle.html
Pickover, Clifford A. (2009) The Math Book, Sterling Publishing Company, New
York, NY

http://www.fq.math.ca/Books/Pascal/bondarenko-1.pdf