Flowchart of Factorial (to compute N!)

N Factorial (N!) Flowcha

Description This flowchart answers the question "How do you draw a flowchart to calculate N factorial?" N factorial is represented as N! where the exclamation point means factorial. For example,

1! = 1

2! = 1*2 = 2

3! = 1*2*3 = 6

4! = 1*2*3*4 = 24

...

N! = 1*2*3...*N

N is an integer and is the input to the flowchart. This flowchart has a loop that starts with M = 1 and increments M until M equals the inputted value N. This program calculates N! by doing each multiplication. Since a computer can rapidly do calculations, it can implement a brute force solution rather than having to rely on a more elegant one.

The next question might be "Can you find a function that computes N! from N without doing each multiplication?"