combinatorics - Why is 0 factorial equal to 1? Is there any pure basic mathematical proof? - Mathematics Stack Exchange
Explain zero factorial.
how is 0 zero factorial equal to 1 mathematical proof 33268
ELI5: Why does 0! (zero factorial) equal 1?
English: In how many ways can you arrange no objects? Obviously one way.
Mathmatish:
It's a continuision of the definition.
If we accept the definition that
x! = x * x-1 * x-2 * x-3 ... * 2 * 1
then that would also infer the definition
x! = (x-1)! * x
which can be rearranged as
(x-1)! = x! / x
So, now we have a rule. Now, let's start counting down from 3!
3! = 4!/4 = 24/4 = 6 2! = 3!/3 = 6/3 = 2 1! = 2!/2 = 2/2 = 1 0! = 1!/1 = 1/1 = 1
We've thus shown that 0! = 1 and that this definition is logical and fits perfectly into the series.
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One definition of the factorial that is more general than the usual
is via the gamma function, where
This definition is not limited to positive integers, and in fact can be taken as the definition of the factorial for non-integers. With this definition, you can quite clearly see that
If you are starting from the "usual" definition of the factorial, in my opinion it is best to take the statement as a part of the definition of the factorial function, as anything else would require proofs using the factorial to include special cases for
and
. It's a definition that is consistent and makes our lives easier.
There is exactly one permutation of a set of zero elements.