1. Find the first three terms of the expansion of $\left(2 - \frac{3}{x}\right)^8$ from part (a).
The first three terms in descending powers of x are:
(08)28+(18)27(−x3)+(28)26(−x3)2
=256−x3072+x216128
2. Form an equation for the coefficient of $x$ in the product and solve for $k$.
The expansion is (1−2x−kx2)(256−x3072+x216128+…).
The x term is formed by:
(−2x)(256)+(−kx2)(−x3072)=−512x+3072kx
Given there is no x term:
−512+3072k=0
3072k=512⟹k=61
3. Calculate the constant term using the value of $k$.
The constant term is formed by:
(1)(256)+(−2x)(−x3072)+(−kx2)(x216128)
=256+6144−16128k
Substitute k=61:
=6400−16128(61)
=6400−2688=3712