In elementary algebra, the binomial theorem (or binomial expansion) describes the algebraic expansion of powers of a binomial. According to the theorem, the power β β expands into a polynomial with terms of the form β β , where the exponents β β and β β are nonnegative integers satisfying β β and the coefficient β β of each term is a specific positive integer depending on β β and β β . For example, for β β ,
The coefficient β β in each term β β is known as the binomial coefficient β β or β β (the two have the same value). These coefficients for varying β β and β β can be arranged to form Pascal's triangle. These numbers also occur in combinatorics, where β β gives the number of different combinations (i.e. subsets) of β β elements that can be chosen from an β β -element set. Therefore β β is usually pronounced as "β β choose β β ".