Factorial
0! is a special case that is explicitly defined to be 1
1! = 1
2! = 2 * 1 = 2
3! = 3 * 2 * 1 = 6
4! = 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 24
5! = 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 120
6! = 6 * 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 720
7! = 7 * 6 * 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 5040
8! = 8 * 7 * 6 * 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 40320
9! = 9 * 8 * 7 * 6 * 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 362880
10! = 10 * 9 * 8 * 7 * 6 * 5 * 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 3628800
etc.
Notice that
4! + 1 = 24 + 1 = 25 = 5^2
5! + 1 = 120 + 1 = 121 = 11^2
But
6! + 1 = 720 + 1 = 721 is not a square number
7! + 1 = 5040 + 1 = 5041 = 71^2
8! + 1 = 40320 + 1 = 40321 is not a square number
9! + 1 = 362880 + 1 = 362881 is not a square number
10! + 1 = 3628800 + 1 = 3628801 is not a square number
So the unsolved problem is: can we find an integer n larger than 7, such as n! + 1 = x^2 ?
No comments:
Post a Comment