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How to Use Google Calculator to Find Factorials
The Google Calculator can easily handle factorials.
How Do You Do Factorials With Google Calculator?
All you have to do is type in the number, followed by an exclamation point.
An example would be 5! — which gives the following results in Google:
What Can I Do With Factorials?
Many people do not understand what exactly factorials can help them with. Basically, five factorial (5!) means 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1, which gives us the answer of 120.
Factorials play a very important role in probability and statistics.
In probability, let’s say that you had five different colored balls that you were pulling out of a hat without looking. The colors are red, yellow, blue, green, and orange. Five factorial tells us that the probability of pulling out the red, then the yellow, then the blue, then the green, and finally the orange balls — all in that order — is 1 in 120, or less than 1%. There are exactly 120 combinations of orders that those balls can be pulled out of the hat in.
In statistics, let’s say that we have five children Bob, Laura, Steve, Jeff, and Liza. If we wanted to stand them all in a line, five factorial tells us that there are 120 different orders that we can have them stand in. Amazing!
Even more amazing is that if you add nine more kids to the mix, then there are over 87 billion combinations of orders that the kids can be lined up in, as shown below.
If you have any questions, feel free to comment below.
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