IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ibn/jmrjnl/v17y2025i2p50.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Subtraction Trees Express Factorial n! as Function of Polynomial x_n

Author

Listed:
  • Luis Teia

Abstract

Differentiating $x^n$ by $n$ times gives $n!$, but what is the explicit function that connects the two? This article offers the unique insight on how the polynomial $x^n$ is found inside the series that expresses the factorial $n!$, i.e. $n!=f(x^n)$. Subtraction trees are the mathematical mechanism used to establish this connection. The process is here applied to powers $n=2 \to 6$, but this can be extended to any power $n$. Proofs using the mathematical method of induction are provided for each power, resulting in the respective function expression. Moreover, reworking this new function $n!=f(x^n)$ enable the determination of all the coefficients $^nC_k$ in a row $n$ of the Pascal's triangle (a worked example is provided). A Matlab/Octave program to compute this is enclosed for practical classroom activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Luis Teia, 2025. "Subtraction Trees Express Factorial n! as Function of Polynomial x_n," Journal of Mathematics Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 17(2), pages 1-50, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:ibn:jmrjnl:v:17:y:2025:i:2:p:50
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jmr/article/download/0/0/51862/56427
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jmr/article/view/0/51862
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ibn:jmrjnl:v:17:y:2025:i:2:p:50. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Canadian Center of Science and Education (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cepflch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.