What is the point of prime numbers?

Question

Genie and SockSpide... have answered what I mean. I just wanted to know what are they used for?

Answer 1

That is like asking what is the point of red. its like a broken pencil, there is no point, it just is. Make of it what you will.

Answer 2

What's the point of numbers period?

People have always been fascinated by the 'patterns' that numbers display, and quotient rings (along with their remainders) have many, many fascinating characteristics.

It was only natural that ancient man wondered, "Why can some numbers not be exactly divided by anything?"

And here's an interesting question for you: As is well-known, the list of prime numbers is endless (that is, there is no 'largest' prime number) Now there is a very special kind of prime number pair called a 'twin-prime' which consists of two prime numbers whose difference is two. For example; 5,7 is a twin prime, as is 29,31. Now, as we get into larger and larger numbers, it is well-known that the primes become more 'scarce' (they get farther and farther apart). The question is: Is the list of twin-primes endless? Or is there a 'largest' twin-prime pair?

The largest twin-prime pair known has (IIRC) several thousand digits in each number. But is it the 'largest?

And the answer is: Nobody knows.

And this is a question that has been around since antiquity. Will finding the answer cause any earth-shaking events? Probably not. But the mathematical insight needed to answer the question very well *might* lead to breakthroughs in other areas.

That's the point of all mathematics, including prime numbers.


Doug

Answer 3

Most computer programming systems allow the user to generate a so-called "random" number. This feature uses a particular kind of formula which can produce pretty good random-looking numbers, when you feed each result back in to get the next result. If you use a prime number at a certain place in the formula, the results are much better than if you use a composite number, so it is useful to know which numbers are prime.

This isn't the most important use of prime numbers, but I'm just adding it because nobody else has, yet.

Answer 4

Prime numbers are special because they are the elementary building blocks of the multiplicative structure on the integers; every integer can be written in only one way as a product of its prime factors. The mathematically precise version of this assertion is known as the The Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic.

Answer 5

I'm not sure what you mean. Prime numbers *are*; the same as non-prime numbers exist. Do you mean, "What is the point of learning about prime numbers?"

When we know the prime numbers, we know that we cannot reduce a fraction any further.

Answer 6

They are used for encrypting digital transmissions. The public/private key pair system is based on multiplying two very large PRIME numbers. That way, the job of factoring the number and finding the two primes will take thousands of years.

Answer 7

They are always integer (so perhaps they have no 'point' - or at least their 'point' is always followed by a string of zeroes!) and they always have only two integer factors - 1 and themselves. They are a curiosity because nobody has yet discovered a relationship or algorithm which defines the sequence of prime numbers - they have to be determined by calculation.

Answer 8

the number 1 has 2 points
the number 2 has 3 points
the number 3 has 3 points
the number 4 has 4 points
the number 5 has 4 points
the number 6 has 1 points and a whole lotta curves

do you get my point?

Answer 9

Whats the point of non-prime numbers?

Answer 10

the main point of prime numbers is"A prime number is one which is divisible by only 1 and itself"
examples are:2,3,5,7,11 etc...

Answer 11

I often use prime numbers when I am debugging mathematical routines in computer programs since there are no derivations except itself and one.