Olympiad Maths Prep

Track / Stage 3 / 33 of 260 #33 of 2000

Problem 33

AMC 10/12, early questions
Combinatorics Difficulty 3.1 Find the answer

Calculate the sum Cn0+2Cn1+22Cn2++2nCnnC_n^0 + 2C_n^1 + 2^2C_n^2 + \ldots + 2^nC_n^n.

Official solution

To solve the given problem, we will use the binomial theorem, which states that for any positive integer nn and any real numbers aa and bb, we have:

(a+b)n=k=0nCnkankbk.(a + b)^n = \sum_{k=0}^{n} C_n^k a^{n-k}b^k.

Let's apply the binomial theorem with a=1a=1 and b=2b=2:

\begin{align*}
(1 + 2)^n &= \sum_{k=0}^{n} C_n^k 1^{n-k}2^k \\
&= \sum_{k=0}^{n} C_n^k 2^k \\
&= C_n^0 + 2C_n^1 + 2^2C_n^2 + \ldots + 2^nC_n^n.
\end{align*}

Therefore, we can simplify the left-hand side to obtain:

3n.\boxed{3^n}.

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic, difficulty and ordering added by this site.