Welcome to The Puzzler. Every week, there are 2 new puzzles related to my passion: math, logic, and thinking. The first puzzle will be The Puzzler Quik, meant for those who crave something fun-sized. The second puzzle will be The Puzzler Think, meant for those who love to ponder. The answers will be posted in next week’s column. Don’t forget to submit your answer for a potential shout-out in the next edition of the Puzzler.
Puzzler Quik
Simplify $$\frac{20!}{19!}$$
Puzzled?
Try writing 20! as something times 19!.
20! can be rewritten as 20 * 19!.
How many zeros are at the end of 1000!(factorial)?
Puzzled?
Think about what factorials are and when a zero is added to the end…
A zero is added at the end whenever a 5 is added to the prime factorization of 1000!(factorial).
ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S PUZZLERS
Last Week's Puzzler Quik
Jaryan from San Francisco, California was the winner of this shout-out!
To find the sum of the first n odd numbers, we just use the formula $$n^2.$$ Thus, our answer is 15 squared, or 225.
Last Week's Puzzler Think
The shoutout for this problem goes to Karen from Texas!
Here is a solution presented in a video!
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