# Count trailing zeros in factorial of a number in C++

C++Server Side ProgrammingProgramming

Given an integer number as input. The goal is to find the number of trailing zeroes in the factorial calculated for that number. A factorial of a number N is a product of all numbers in the range [1, N].

We know that we get a trailing zero only if the number is multiple of 10 or has a factor pair (2,5). In all factorials of any number greater than 5, we have a number of 2s more than 5s in prime factorization of that number. Dividing a number by powers of 5 will give us the count of 5s in its factors. So, the number of 5s will tell us the number of trailing zeroes.

For Example

## Input

number=6

## Output

Count of trailing zeros in factorial of a number are: 1

## Explanation

The factorial is 30.
Prime factors of 30 : 2 * 3 * 5
So only one pair of (2,5) exists so trailing zeros is 1.

## Input

number=12

## Output

Count of trailing zeros in factorial of a number are: 2

## Explanation

The factorial is 479001600.
Prime factors of 479001600 : 210 x 35 x 52 x 71 x 111
So we can get 2 pairs of (2,5) so trailing zeros are 2

Approach used in the below program is as follows

In this approach we will divide the number by powers of 5. If it results in more than 1 then the number of trailing zeros will be the number of 5s. Add this to count.

• Take an integer number as input.

• Function trailing_zeros(int number) takes number and returns the count of trailing zeroes in factorial of number.

• Take the initial count as 0.

• Using a for loop, divide the number by powers of 5.

• If number/i is greater than 1, add this value to count.

• Return count as result at the end of loop.

## Example

Live Demo

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int trailing_zeros(int number){
int count = 0;
for (int i = 5; number / i >= 1; i *= 5){
int temp = number / i;
count = count + temp;
}
return count;
}
int main(){
int number = 50;
cout<<"Count of trailing zeros in factorial of a number are: "<<trailing_zeros(number);
return 0;
}

## Output

If we run the above code it will generate the following output −

Count of trailing zeros in factorial of a number are: 12
Published on 05-Jan-2021 06:08:06