Edexcel C34 2015 January — Question 5

Exam BoardEdexcel
ModuleC34 (Core Mathematics 3 & 4)
Year2015
SessionJanuary
TopicGeneralised Binomial Theorem
TypeMultiply by polynomial

  1. (a) Use the binomial expansion, in ascending powers of \(x\), of \(\frac { 1 } { \sqrt { } ( 1 - 2 x ) }\) to show that
$$\frac { 2 + 3 x } { \sqrt { } ( 1 - 2 x ) } \approx 2 + 5 x + 6 x ^ { 2 } , \quad | x | < 0.5$$ (b) Substitute \(x = \frac { 1 } { 20 }\) into $$\frac { 2 + 3 x } { \sqrt { } ( 1 - 2 x ) } = 2 + 5 x + 6 x ^ { 2 }$$ to obtain an approximation to \(\sqrt { 10 }\)
Give your answer as a fraction in its simplest form.