• funnystuff97@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    It makes more sense to me because, when binomials are taught, it’s usually in the form of a variable and a constant.

    E.G. a = x, b = 3: (x + 3)^2. When expanded, that’s usually x^2 + 6x + 9, and not x^2 + 9 + 6x.

    • TheGreenGolem@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      Exactly, you are going to lower and lower powers. (Is power the word in English here?)

      ax², bx¹, cx⁰

      • prayer@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Right, but if you look in the field of probabilities, specifically when expanding binomial distributions, you go increasing powers with one and decreasing powers with the other.

        ax^4 + bx^3y + cx2y2 + dxy^3 + ey^4

        That’s why it makes sense to me to read it a^2 + 2ab + b^2