TheFirstPrimeNumberRocks
- Thread starter ScottR
- Start date
The First Prime...hehe...I like that!
Primey the limey
Primey the limey
The first prime is 2 not 1
Ha! You told them. Nice find.hobokenapa said:The first prime is 2 not 1
hobokenapa said:The first prime is 2 not 1
PA,
Isn't a prime number any number that can be divided only by one and itself? I would think TheOne is certainly prime.
One is not a prime number.
Any natural number greater than one whose only factors are one and the number itself is a prime number. This is the definition of prime numbers in math language! In other words, if only one and a number multiply together to get the number, then the...
The One may be prim but not prime.
Any natural number greater than one whose only factors are one and the number itself is a prime number. This is the definition of prime numbers in math language! In other words, if only one and a number multiply together to get the number, then the...
The One may be prim but not prime.
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Williebetmore said:
if anybody cares, here's a rather longwinded answer:
technically, a prime number is defined as an integer greater than one which is only divisible by one and itself. though you can define it however you like, the reason mathematicians define it this way (i.e. requiring it to be greater than one) has to do with why primes are mathematically significant.
primes are the building blocks of the positive integers. that is, every number (positive integer) is either prime or can be represented as a product of primes. for example, 36 = 2 x 2 x 3 x 3, and 42 = 2 x 3 x 7. moreover, this representation of numbers as products of primes is unique (disregarding the order of the factors). for example, 42 can only be represented as a product of primes as 2 x 3 x 7. now if 1 where considered a prime, then it would not be unique. that is 42 = 1 x 2 x 3 x 7; and also 42 = 1 x 1 x 2 x 3 x 7; and again 42 = 1 x 1 x 1 x 2 x 3 x 7; and so on.
the problem with including 1 as a prime is that it's not really a building block in the way that the other primes are. so if it were a prime, most of the theorems on primes would have to be rewritten to read "all primes greater than one ...."
by the way, the proofs of prime factorization, as well as its uniqueness are not that difficult and were known to euclid and the ancient greeks.
william
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