Factorial factors

Find the largest integer k k such that k 2 k^2 is a factor of 10 ! 10! .

Notation : ! ! denotes the factorial notation.


The answer is 720.

This section requires Javascript.
You are seeing this because something didn't load right. We suggest you, (a) try refreshing the page, (b) enabling javascript if it is disabled on your browser and, finally, (c) loading the non-javascript version of this page . We're sorry about the hassle.

5 solutions

10! = 2 * 5 * 3 2 3^{2} * 2 3 2^{3} * 7 * (2 * 3) * 5 * 2 2 2^{2} * 3 * 2 = 2 8 2^{8} * 3 4 3^{4} * 5 2 5^{2} * 7 = ( 2 4 2^{4} * 3 2 3^{2} * 5) 2 ^{2} * 7

Therefore k = 2 4 2^{4} * 3 2 3^{2} * 5 = 720 \boxed{720}

same way exactly

Kaustubh Miglani - 5 years, 4 months ago

Log in to reply

this is the basic way

saptarshi sen - 5 years, 4 months ago

Log in to reply

yes it is for sure and best one too

Kaustubh Miglani - 5 years, 4 months ago
Arulx Z
Jan 18, 2016

It's easy to see why 1 will be the power of 7 (hint: 7 2 > 10 7 \cdot 2 > 10 ). So we just find the powers of primes less than 7.

Highest power of 2 -

10 2 + 10 4 + 10 8 = 8 \left\lfloor \frac { 10 }{ 2 } \right\rfloor +\left\lfloor \frac { 10 }{ 4 } \right\rfloor +\left\lfloor \frac { 10 }{ 8 } \right\rfloor =8

Highest power of 3 -

10 3 + 10 9 = 4 \left\lfloor \frac { 10 }{ 3 } \right\rfloor +\left\lfloor \frac { 10 }{ 9 } \right\rfloor =4

Highest power of 5 -

10 5 = 2 \left\lfloor \frac { 10 }{ 5 } \right\rfloor =2

So we have the factorization as 2 8 3 4 5 2 = ( 2 4 3 2 5 ) 2 = 72 0 2 { 2 }^{ 8 }\cdot { 3 }^{ 4 }\cdot { 5 }^{ 2 }={ \left( { 2 }^{ 4 }\cdot { 3 }^{ 2 }\cdot 5 \right) }^{ 2 }=720^2

Moderator note:

Good explanation which shows how to generalize to larger values.

Nick Byrne
Jan 19, 2016

Show 10 ! 10! as a product of it's prime factors.

10 ! = 10 × 9 × 8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 10! =10 \times 9 \times 8 \times 7 \times 6 \times 5 \times 4 \times 3 \times 2 \times 1

= ( 5 × 2 ) × ( 3 × 3 ) × ( 2 × 2 × 2 ) × 7 × ( 2 × 3 ) × 5 × ( 2 × 2 ) × 3 =(5 \times 2) \times (3 \times 3) \times (2 \times 2 \times 2) \times 7 \times (2 \times 3) \times 5 \times (2 \times 2 ) \times 3

= 2 8 × 3 4 × 5 2 × 7 =2^{8} \times 3^{4} \times 5^{2} \times 7

= ( 2 4 × 3 2 × 5 1 ) 2 × 7 =(2^{4} \times 3^{2} \times 5^{1})^{2} \times 7

Hence the largest possible k k for which k 2 10 ! k^{2} | 10! is k = 2 4 × 3 2 × 5 = 720 k=2^{4} \times 3^{2} \times 5 =\boxed{720}

Kamalpreet Singh
Jan 23, 2016

That's a wonderful and little bit tricky question.But I have found its answer,which is 720 Since 720*720 *7=3628800=10! where "7" being the least factor (integer) whose product with the square of required number (720) gives 10!

Filip Leszczynski
Jan 19, 2016

10 ! = 2 8 5 2 3 5 7 1 10! = 2^{8} \cdot 5^{2} \cdot 3^{5} \cdot 7 \cdot 1

10 ! = 2 8 5 2 3 4 3 7 1 10! = 2^{8} \cdot 5^{2} \cdot 3^{4} \cdot 3 \cdot 7 \cdot 1

This step has new given us these factors separated into two groups, those with an even exponent and those with an odd exponent. Knowing that our factor will be squared, we collect the even exponent factors, call their product k^{2}, take the square root, ergo dividing all exponents by 2, to yield our desired k

k 2 = 2 8 5 2 3 4 k^{2} = 2^{8} \cdot 5^{2} \cdot 3^{4}

k = 2 4 5 1 3 2 k =2^{4} \cdot 5^{1} \cdot 3^{2}

k = 720 \boxed k = 720

0 pending reports

×

Problem Loading...

Note Loading...

Set Loading...