• Question: What's so weird about prime numbers

    Asked by kirbykirbo00 to Andrew, Jade, Jessica, Kevin, Lynn on 19 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Jess Wade

      Jess Wade answered on 19 Jun 2015:

      Prime numbers aren’t that weird! They are just really rare. A prime number can be divided evenly only by 1, or itself. For example, 5 can only be divided evenly by 1 or 5, so it is a prime number. But 12 can be divided evenly by 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 so it is NOT a prime number (it is a composite number). The largest prime number known has around 13,000,000 digits! In 300 BC a Greek mathematician Euclid studied prime numbers. they aren’t that weird, just very interesting. They are often used in security for technology and the internet.

Comments