College Algebra (6th Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0-32178-228-3
ISBN 13: 978-0-32178-228-1

Chapter 8 - Sequences, Induction, and Probability - Exercise Set 8.1 - Page 716: 81

Answer

expect an "error" message, $39,800$

Work Step by Step

Most calculators will return an error message, because both factorials are HUGE numbers (larger than the calculator can represent, $9.999999\times 10^{99}).$ Try 69! and 70! on your calculator to see the problem. We overcome this problem by noting that $200!=200\cdot 199!=200\cdot 199\cdot 198!$, rewriting the fraction, $\displaystyle \frac{200!}{198!}=\frac{200\cdot 199\cdot 198!}{198!}$, and reducing the fraction (with $198!)$ to obtain $200\cdot 199=39,800$
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