In math, an exclamation point means “factorial,” a special multiplication operation written as n!n!n!.

Quick Scoop

  • Factorial of a whole number nnn (written n!n!n!) means multiply all the whole numbers from 1 up to nnn.
  • Example:
    • 4!=4×3×2×1=244!=4\times 3\times 2\times 1=244!=4×3×2×1=24.
* 5!=5×4×3×2×1=1205!=5\times 4\times 3\times 2\times 1=1205!=5×4×3×2×1=120.
  • By definition, 0!=10!=10!=1, which is a special case that makes many formulas work nicely.

So when you see something like 7!7!7! in math, it isn’t “7, wow!”—it’s a shortcut telling you to multiply 7 by every positive whole number below it down to 1.