Prime numbers are natural numbers p so that:
p>1; If a natural number n>0 divides exactly into p, then n=1 or n=p
Another way of saying this is that each p has exactly two factors among the natural numbers.
So why isn't 1 allowed to be a prime number? It's because we then wouldn't have unique factorization into primes for natural numbers. For example:
12 = 2 * 2 * 3 = 2^2 * 3
is a unique factorization. But if we allow 1 to be prime, we have
12 = 1 * 2^2 * 3 = 1^2 * 2^2 * 3 = 1^3 * 2^2 * 3 =...
p>1; If a natural number n>0 divides exactly into p, then n=1 or n=p
Another way of saying this is that each p has exactly two factors among the natural numbers.
So why isn't 1 allowed to be a prime number? It's because we then wouldn't have unique factorization into primes for natural numbers. For example:
12 = 2 * 2 * 3 = 2^2 * 3
is a unique factorization. But if we allow 1 to be prime, we have
12 = 1 * 2^2 * 3 = 1^2 * 2^2 * 3 = 1^3 * 2^2 * 3 =...
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Please visit my website here! It's got lots of information about atheism/theism and support for new atheists.
Index of useful threads and discussions
Index of my best videos
Quickstart guide to the forum