alleryStart learning →Why can a calculator fail to return a value for a large factorial?
AThe result stops being an integer
BThe output grows too large to compute
CThe result becomes a negative number
DThe output settles at a fixed limit
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. The output grows too large to compute
1. Factorials grow faster than exponential functions, so their values climb extremely quickly.
2. Once the output exceeds what the calculator can hold, the machine cannot return the factorial.
3. Factorials of positive integers stay positive whole numbers, so they never turn negative or fractional.
4. They also never settle at a fixed limit, since every extra factor makes them larger.
_Source: OpenStax Algebra and Trigonometry (CC BY 4.0), Ch 13 "Sequences, Probability and Counting Theory", section 13.1 Sequences and Their Notations_
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