in excel 2000 atleast if A1 is 2 and B1 is 3 and if you type in C1 following
=(A1+B1)^2
for<^ see the key 6

then C1 willl have 25

2*y is 2y --is tht what you want;

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K.S.Warrier wrote in message
...
Hi,
1)How to express the nth power of (a+b),where a,b,n are variables (0,+ve
or
-ve).
2)How to express the coefficient of a variable 'y' as a2 y,where 2 in a2
is
also to be expreesed at bottom right of 'a' .
Thank you,
K.S.Warrier