Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
1,775,188,230 visitors served.
forum mailing list For webmasters
?
New: Language forums
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

factorial
(redirected from Superfactorial)

   Also found in: Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.

factorial

For any whole number, the product of all the counting numbers up to and including itself. It is indicated with an exclamation point: 4! (read “four factorial”) is 1 × 2 × 3 × 4 = 24. In order for certain formulas involving permutations and combinations to work, 0! is defined to be 1. Factorials are particularly useful in calculating the number of ways an event can occur, for example, the number of possible orders of finish in a race.


factorial

The number of sequences that can exist with a set of items, derived by multiplying the number of items by the next lowest number until 1 is reached. For example, three items have six sequences (3x2x1=6): 123, 132, 231, 213, 312 and 321. See factor and IFP.


factorial Maths
the product of all the positive integers from one up to and including a given integer. Factorial zero is assigned the value of one: factorial four is 1 × 2 × 3 × 4. Symbol: n!, where n is the given integer

factorial [fak′tȯr·ē·əl]
(mathematics)
The product of all positive integers less than or equal ton;writtenn!; by convention 0! = 1.

(mathematics)factorial - The mathematical function that takes a natural number, N, and returns the product of N and all smaller positive integers. This is written

N! = N * (N-1) * (N-2) * ... * 1.

The factorial of zero is one because it is an empty product.

Factorial can be defined recursively as

0! = 1 N! = N * (N-1)! , N > 0

The gamma function is the equivalent for real numbers.


How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Email
Feedback
? Mentioned in
 
Encyclopedia browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Encyclopedia
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Terms of Use.