What is the 40th row and the sum of all the numbers in it of pascals triangle?

1 Answer
Mar 15, 2018

See explanation...

Explanation:

The #40#th row of Pascal's triangle consists of the numbers:

#((39),(0)), ((39),(1)), ((39),(2)), ..., ((39),(38)), ((39),(39))#

where #((n),(k)) = (n!)/((n-k)! k!)#

The binomial theorem tells us that:

#(a+b)^n = sum_(k=0)^n ((n),(k)) a^(n-k) b^k#

So putting #a=b=1# we find that:

#sum_(k=0)^n ((n),(k)) = 2^n#

So the sum of the terms in the #40#th row of Pascal's triangle is:

#2^39 = 549755813888#