College Math Placement Practice Test

What is the value of the expression 5! (5 factorial)?

1. 60

2. 120

3. 180

4. 240

The correct answer is: 120

The value of the expression 5! (5 factorial) is calculated by multiplying all whole numbers from 1 to 5 together. The factorial notation "n!" means you multiply all integers from n down to 1. So, for 5!, you would compute it as follows: 5! = 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 Calculating this step by step: - 5 × 4 = 20 - 20 × 3 = 60 - 60 × 2 = 120 - 120 × 1 = 120 Thus, the value of 5! is 120. This confirms that the accurately calculated factorial gives us the result of 120, which corresponds to the choice that indicates this value. The other options do not match because they are derived from either incorrect calculations or misunderstandings of the factorial process, demonstrating the importance of following the defined steps for calculating factorials accurately.