x ! = x x!=x

Algebra Level 3

For how many real values of x x is the equation x ! = x x!=x true?

Clarification: The definition x ! = Γ ( x + 1 ) x!=\Gamma (x+1) is used.

1 2 None of these e e 2 \left\lfloor { e }^{ { e }^{ 2 } } \right\rfloor 10 7 ( e 2 ) e \left\lfloor { ({ e }^{ 2 }) }^{ { e } } \right\rfloor 6

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1 solution

Louis Ullman
Oct 5, 2018

This question is basically asking, "how many times does the graph x = y x=y intersect the graph x ! = y x!=y ?". For positive values of x x , the graph looks somewhat like an exponential function. For negative integer values of x x , x ! x! is undefined because of a division by zero error. When this happens, this creates an asymptote in the graph. Because there are infinite negative integers, there are infinite asymptotes in the graph of x ! = y x!=y . However, to figure out exactly what the graph looks like, we need to test some values. Using the gamma function (or a calculator), we can calculate the values of x ! x! at fractional negative values. For example, ( 0.5 ) ! (-0.5)! is approximately equal to 1.8. We can make a table containing some inputs: [ x y 0.5 1.8 1.5 3.5 2.5 2.4 3.5 0.9 4.5 0.3 ] \begin{bmatrix} x & y \\ -0.5 & 1.8 \\ -1.5 & -3.5 \\ -2.5 & 2.4 \\ -3.5 & -0.9 \\ -4.5 & 0.3 \end{bmatrix} Based on these values, we can tell that fractional negative values of x ! x! alternate between being positive and negative, getting closer and closer to 0. However, if they're alternating between asymptotes, this means that the direction the graph of x ! x! comes from alternates as well. This means for every other asymptote, the part of the graph directly to the left of it is negative, extending downward infinitely. Since y y in x = y x=y decreases as x x decreases, there are infinite values where x ! = x x!=x .

Of course, this isn't a full proof, but you should be able to calculate enough values to determine that x ! = x x!=x is true more times than the largest answer available. Therefore, the answer is "None of these".

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