divisibility - How come the number $N!$ can terminate in exactly $1,2,3,4,$ or $6$ zeroes but never $5$ zeroes?

How come the number $N!$ can terminate in exactly $1,2,3,4,$ or $6$ zeroes but never $5$ zeroes?

Answer

The number of zeros at the end of $N!$ is given by $$\left \lfloor \frac{N}{5} \right \rfloor + \left \lfloor \frac{N}{5^2} \right \rfloor + \left \lfloor \frac{N}{5^3} \right \rfloor + \cdots$$ where $\left \lfloor \frac{x}{y} \right \rfloor$ is the greatest integer $\leq \frac{x}{y}$.

To make it clear, write $N!$ as a product of primes $N! = 2^{\alpha_2} 3^{\alpha_2} 5^{\alpha_5} 7^{\alpha_7} 11^{\alpha_{11}} \ldots$ where $\alpha_i \in \mathbb{N}$.

Note that $\alpha_5 < \alpha_2$, $\forall N$. (Why?)

The number of zeros at the end of $N!$ is the highest power of $10$ dividing $N!$

If $10^{\alpha}$ divides $N!$ and since $10 = 2 \times 5$, $2^{\alpha} | N!$ and $5^{\alpha} | N!$. Further since $\alpha_5 < \alpha_2$, the highest power of $10$ dividing $N!$ is the highest power of $5$ dividing $N!$ which is $\alpha_5$.

So you will find that for $N \leq 24$, the number of zeros will be less than or equal to 4. However when $N$ hits $25$ you will get 2 additional zeros courtesy $25$ since $25 \times 2^2 = 100$. Hence, there will be a jump when you go from $24$ to $25$.

EDIT:

Note that there will be

1. A jump of $1$ zero going from $(N-1)!$ to $N!$ if $5 || N$




2. A jump of $2$ zero going from $(N-1)!$ to $N!$ if $5^2 || N$




3. A jump of $3$ zero going from $(N-1)!$ to $N!$ if $5^3 || N$ and in general




4. A jump of $k$ zero going from $(N-1)!$ to $N!$ if $5^k || N$

where $a || b$ means $a$ divides $b$ and gcd($a,\frac{b}{a}$) = 1

EDIT

Largest power of a prime dividing $N!$

In general, the highest power of a prime $p$ dividing $N!$ is given by

$$s_p(N!) = \left \lfloor \frac{N}{p} \right \rfloor + \left \lfloor \frac{N}{p^2} \right \rfloor + \left \lfloor \frac{N}{p^3} \right \rfloor + \cdots$$

The first term appears since you want to count the number of terms less than $N$ and are multiples of $p$ and each of these contribute one $p$ to $N!$. But then when you have multiples of $p^2$ you are not multiplying just one $p$ but you are multiplying two of these primes $p$ to the product. So you now count the number of multiple of $p^2$ less than $N$ and add them. This is captured by the second term $\displaystyle \left \lfloor \frac{N}{p^2} \right \rfloor$. Repeat this to account for higher powers of $p$ less than $N$.

In case of the current example, the largest prime dividing $10$ is $5$. Hence, the largest power of $10$ dividing $N!$ is the same as the largest power of $5$ dividing $N!$.

Largest power of a prime dividing other related products

In general, if we want to find the highest power of a prime $p$ dividing numbers like $\displaystyle 1 \times 3 \times 5 \times \cdots (2N-1)$, $\displaystyle P(N,r)$, $\displaystyle \binom{N}{r}$, the key is to write them in terms of factorials.

For instance, $$\displaystyle 1 \times 3 \times 5 \times \cdots (2N-1) = \frac{(2N)!}{2^N N!}.$$ Hence, the largest power of a prime, $p>2$, dividing $\displaystyle 1 \times 3 \times 5 \times \cdots (2N-1)$ is given by $s_p((2N)!) - s_p(N!)$, where $s_p(N!)$ is defined above. If $p = 2$, then the answer is $s_p((2N)!) - s_p(N!) - N$.

Similarly, $$\displaystyle P(N,r) = \frac{N!}{(N-r)!}.$$ Hence, the largest power of a prime, dividing $\displaystyle P(N,r)$ is given by $s_p((N)!) - s_p((N-r)!)$, where $s_p(N!)$ is defined above.

Similarly, $$\displaystyle C(N,r) = \binom{N}{r} = \frac{N!}{r!(N-r)!}.$$ Hence, the largest power of a prime, dividing $\displaystyle C(N,r)$ is given by $s_p((N)!) - s_p(r!) - s_p((N-r)!)$, where $s_p(N!)$ is defined above.