After using pascals triange in expanding and simplifying with the binomial theorem, do you multiply?

Question

For example, if I have (5) 4x^4 3y...would I multiply 5 by 4x and 3y in order to simplify?

Answer 1

Yes. Either way it's correct, but it looks better if you simplify. You may get points off if you don't simplify too. In your example, you only need to multiply 5*4*3 to get 60, and then write 60(x^4)y.

Answer 2

almost all of the time, you have to simplify your answers because it's either what the teacher expects to give you the full amount of points for the problem or if you're taking a multiple choice exam, the simplified answer is the best one.