I know e equals 2.718...

Question

but why is it that when the variable becomes such a large number and is plugged into a calculator, the answer becomes one and not the constant we know?

Answer 1

e limit as n→infinity of (1+1/n)^n.

 

It's a good exercise to program that expression on a calculator and then evaluate it for specific values of n = 100, n=1000, n = 1,000,000 to observe the behavior, simulating the approach of n to infinity.