Factorials - A Look At Infinity.
If I asked you for the sum of the integers from 1 to 100 inclusive, you could solve the problem by an easy formula [ref.: formula for the sum of an arithmetic series ]. But if I asked you for the product of all of the integers from 1 to 100 (or 100!, as this is written), if you didn't have a shortcut you'd come back to me 3 days and several gallons of Red Bull [I hate the stuff] later -- and odds are, if you did the calculation manually, you've introduced at least one error, which makes your result a study in 1 ) discipline and devotion; and 2 ) high unreliability. Happily, over the years, mathematicians have pondered this problem and found a formula to approximate the result. Note that the factorial formula is increasingly accurate as the amount of numbers multiplied grows, i.e., the formula would be rotten for calculating 10!, poor for 100!, passable for 1,000! and very darn close and useful for 10,000! Now "here", as the ignorami [a Lingovation of the highest...