Cayley’s Formula from Middle School Math

American Mathematical Monthly 2026 Open access

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Authors: Victoria Feldman
DOI: 10.1080/00029890.2025.2590423
Cited by: 0
References: 6

Abstract

The note contains a short elementary proof of Cayley’s formula for labeled trees. We build trees inductively and use an elementary algebra trick to sum over all possible tree types.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Mathematics Education and Teaching Techniques

Publication details

Journal / source
American Mathematical Monthly
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Volume
133
Issue
2
Pages
185–188
Publication date
9 January 2026
Language
EN