Darth_Ole
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Thu Sep-25-03 09:58 PM
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When you're young you're taught that 1 is not neither prime nor composite. But I've argued with people that 1 is in fact prime because it only has two factors: 1 and itself.
Any of you know?
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FlashHarry
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Thu Sep-25-03 09:59 PM
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...if a prime number is a number that is only divisible by 1 and itself... then, I guess it is a prime number.
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Susang
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Thu Sep-25-03 10:00 PM
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2. 1 is the lonelist number |
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Other than that, I have no idea. :-)
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unblock
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Thu Sep-25-03 10:00 PM
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3. 1 is not considered a prime number |
Ivory_Tower
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Thu Sep-25-03 10:01 PM
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4. I've seen definitions of prime |
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Edited on Thu Sep-25-03 10:02 PM by Ivory_Tower
That say "a number greater than one is prime if...."
So by that definition I would say no. (Most lists of primes start with 2.) (Edit: All lists of primes?)
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DemoVet
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Thu Sep-25-03 10:03 PM
Response to Reply #4 |
8. Which is the only even prime number! |
boxster
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Thu Sep-25-03 11:01 PM
Response to Reply #8 |
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Edited on Thu Sep-25-03 11:03 PM by boxster
Yep, 2's the only one! No pun intended.
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TheZoo
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Thu Sep-25-03 10:02 PM
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Edited on Thu Sep-25-03 10:17 PM by TheZoo
The definition of a prime number is: An integer greater than one is called a prime number if its only positive divisors (factors) are one and itself.
The Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic states that "Every positive integer greater than one can be written uniquely as a product of primes, with the prime factors in the product written in order of nondecreasing size."
So, while "One is a Lonely Number", it's not a Prime number.
On edit: Thanks for this topic! I've started reading a lot on Prime Numbers and Math in general on my breaks at work.
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unblock
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Thu Sep-25-03 10:02 PM
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6. the main reason 1 is not considered a prime number |
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is so that all numbers have a unique prime factorization.
e.g., the prime factors of 15 are 3 and 5. if 1 were considered prime, then the prime factors of 15 could be 5, 3, and 1. or 5, 3, 1, and 1. you get the idea.
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yankeeinlouisiana
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Thu Sep-25-03 10:03 PM
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in the morning. He's sleeping now. He's good at math and he's at the right age for this question. I don't remember if it is or isn't. It seems to fall into that category, but...:shrug:
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Superfly
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Thu Sep-25-03 10:05 PM
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Edited on Thu Sep-25-03 10:17 PM by Superfly
Since the definition of a prime number is any number than can be divisible only by 1 and itself, is 0 a prime number?
0/1 = 0
0/0 = undefined or 1
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punpirate
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Thu Sep-25-03 10:20 PM
Response to Reply #9 |
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... dividing by zero is an illegal function, mostly because it signifies an unquantifiable result.
Cheers.
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Superfly
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Thu Sep-25-03 10:22 PM
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0/0? Zero goes into zero exactly 1 or an infinite number of times. Now I remember why I haven't used math since learning difficult (differential) equations.
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Superfly
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Thu Sep-25-03 10:24 PM
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12. Answered my own question |
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"Zero is not a prime or a composite number either. Zero has an infinite number of divisors (any nonzero whole number divides zero). It cannot be written as a product of two factors, neither of which is itself, so zero is also not composite. It falls in a class of numbers called zero-divisors. These are numbers such that, when multiplied by some nonzero number, the product is zero."
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Akbar
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Thu Sep-25-03 10:34 PM
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If one accepts that 0/0 is 1, then all numbers are equal.
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Shakeydave
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Thu Sep-25-03 10:47 PM
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14. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhh! |
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I'm back in Mrs. Brierly's 4th grade math! Don't send me there! :freak:
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Mon May 13th 2024, 10:48 AM
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