The product of consecutive positive integers is divisible by
Hint 1: Let the product be .
Hint 2: Relate this product to the combination formula .
Hint 3: Since the number of combinations is always a whole number, what does that imply about divisibility of by ?
Step 1 (Formulate the Product): Let the product of consecutive positive integers be represented by:
where is the largest of these consecutive integers.
Step 2 (Relate to Binomial Coefficients): The definition of the binomial coefficient is:
Step 3 (Integrality Property): A fundamental mathematical property is that the binomial coefficient is always an integer for any positive integers .
Since :
This proves that the product of consecutive positive integers is always divisible by .
Step 4 (Conclusion): The product is divisible by r!.
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