[Math] How many possible combination of atoms are there in the universe.

factorial

I was having a discussion with a friend about approximately how many atoms there were in the universe. Google states it's around 10^78 . We then discussed how many different combinations of these atoms were possible, which is factorial 10^78.

Could someone please tell me (rounded up or down) what number is 10^78!
The only answer I can get is infinity, but how could that be if I'm using a finite number?

I know little about math and I'm hoping someone could help.
Thank you in advance.

Best Answer

You get $\infty$ on your calculator because it is too big a number for it to handle. By using Sterling's approximation, we get

$$10^{78}!\approx\sqrt{2\pi} 10^{39}\left(\frac{10^{78}}{e} \right)^{10^{78}}$$ which is still way too big to even begin to fathom, but you probably won't get much closer to understanding this number. The real monster of this expression is $\left(10^{78}\right)^{10^{78}}$; it is approximately a $1$ followed by $10^{80}$ zeros.

Here is an entertaining post from Reddit trying to handle "just" $52!$, but it should put $10^{78}!$ a bit into perspective.