Can any1 explain to me what a prime number is and why?
In mathematics, a prime number (or a prime) is a natural number that has exactly two (distinct) natural number divisors, which are 1 and the prime number itself. There exists an infinitude of prime numbers, as demonstrated by Euclid, in about 300 B.C.. The first 30 prime numbers are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83, 89, 97, 101, 103, 107, 109, and 113 (sequence A000040 in OEIS); see the list of prime numbers for a longer list. The property of being a prime is called primality, and the word prime is also used as an adjective. Since 2 is the only even prime number, the term odd prime refers to all prime numbers greater than 2. The study of prime numbers is part of number theory, the branch of mathematics which encompasses the study of natural numbers. Prime numbers have been the subject of intense research, yet some fundamental questions, such as the Riemann hypothesis and the Goldbach conjecture, have been unresolved for more than a
A prime number is a number divisible only by one and itself – i.e. it can’t be divided by any other number. So, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19 etc are all prime numbers, because they can’t be divided by anything except themselves and one. By contrast, the other numbers like 4, 6, 9, 10, 12 can be divided in a couple of different ways at least – e.g. 12 can be divided by 2, 3, 6 as well as 12 and 1. Hope that helps.
A prime number is a number that can only be divided by itself and 1. Prime numbers are the building blocks of all other numbers. Any number can be made by adding other prime numbers together. Try it and see! Examples of a prime number is 2, 3, 5, 7 , 11. Take 9 for example, it is not a prime number because it is divisible by 1, 3, and 9. The search for a general formula for prime numbers have inspired many prominent mathematicians including Fermat, Euler, Gauss, etc. It is a very interesting field of mathematics and certainly is one of the sides of mathematics that is featured most prominently. For example, in the movie Contact, the aliens from another planet were said to communicate with earth by sending messages that were a string of continuous prime numbers. Reason being that only a sophisticated society will be able to identify immediately that the string of numbers is not just ‘white noise’.
Hiya! A prime number is simply, ‘A number that can only be wholly divided by itself and the number one’. Let’s take the number 10, for example. We know that 10 can be divided by itself, as in 10/10=1. We also know that 10 can be divided by the number 1, as in 10/1=10. However, the number 10 is NOT a prime number because we know that 10 can also be divided by 2 to give, 10/2=5 and also 5, to give 10/5=2. All these divisors are collectively called the ‘factors’ of 10. Now, let’s take the number 7 as an example. Ok, dividing number 7 by itself gives you 7/7=1. Also, dividing the number 7 by the number 1 gives you 7/1=7. With the exception of these two numbers, we CANNOT divide the number 7 by any other number to give you a WHOLE number, hence, the number 7 is a prime number. The first few prime numbers are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13…..etc. I hope that has helped.
