This article is about the number. For the year, see AD 4.

For other uses, see 4

(disambiguation), IV (disambiguation), Number Four (disambiguation), and No. 4
(disambiguation).

←3 4 5→

-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 →

List of numbers — Integers

← 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 →

Cardinal four

Ordinal 4th

(fourth)

Numeral system quaternary

Factorization 22

Divisors 1, 2, 4

Greek numeral Δ´

Roman numeral IV

Roman numeral (unicode) Ⅳ, ⅳ

Greek prefix tetra-

Latin prefix quadri-/quadr-

Binary 1002

Ternary 113

Quaternary 104

Quinary 45

Senary 46
Octal 48

Duodecimal 412

Hexadecimal 416

Vigesimal 420

Base 36 436

Arabic, Kurdish ٤

Persian, Sindhi ۴

Urdu ۴

Ge'ez ፬

Bengali ৪

Chinese numeral 四，亖，肆

Korean 넷,사

Devanagari ४

Telugu ౪

Malayalam ൪

Tamil ௪

Hebrew ‫ד‬

Khmer ៤

Thai ๔

Kannada ४
 Burmese ၄

4 (four) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the natural number following 3 and

preceding 5. It is the smallest composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East
Asian cultures.

Contents

 1In mathematics
 2List of basic calculations
 3Evolution of the glyph
 4In religion
o 4.1Buddhism
o 4.2Judeo-Christian symbolism
o 4.3Hinduism
o 4.4Islam
o 4.5Taoism
o 4.6Other
 5In politics
 6In computing
 7In science
o 7.1In astronomy
o 7.2In biology
o 7.3In chemistry
o 7.4In physics
 8In logic and philosophy
 9In technology
 10In transport
 11In sports
 12In other fields
 13In music
o 13.1Albums
 14Groups of four
 15References
 16External links

In mathematics
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Four is the smallest composite number, its proper divisors being 1 and 2.

4 is the smallest squared prime (p2) and the only even number in this form. 4 is also the
only square one more than a prime number.
A number is a multiple of 4 if its last two digits are a multiple of 4. For example, 1092 is a
multiple of 4 because 92 = 4 × 23.
In addition, 2 + 2 = 2 × 2 = 22 = 4. Continuing the pattern in Knuth's up-arrow notation, 2 ↑↑
2 = 2 ↑↑↑ 2 = 4, and so on, for any number of up arrows. (That is, 2 [n] 2 = 4 for every
positive integer n, where a [n] b is the hyperoperation.)
A four-sided plane figure is a quadrilateral (quadrangle) which include kites, rhombi,
rectangles and squares, sometimes also called a tetragon. A circle divided by 4 makes right
angles and four quadrants. Because of it, four (4) is the base number of the plane
(mathematics). Four cardinal directions, four seasons, the duodecimal system, and
the vigesimal system are based on four.
A solid figure with four faces as well as four vertices is a tetrahedron, and 4 is the smallest
possible number of faces (as well as vertices) of a polyhedron. The regular tetrahedron is
the simplest Platonic solid. A tetrahedron, which can also be called a 3-simplex, has four
triangular faces and four vertices. It is the only self-dual regular polyhedron.
Four-dimensional space is the highest-dimensional space featuring more than three convex
regular figures:

 Two-dimensional: infinitely many convex regular polygons.

 Three-dimensional: five convex regular polyhedra (the five Platonic solids).
 Four-dimensional: six convex regular polychora.
 Five-dimensional and every higher-dimensional: three regular
convex polytopes (regular simplexes, hypercubes, cross-polytopes).
Four-dimensional differential manifolds have some unique properties. There is only
one differential structure on ℝn except when n = 4, in which case there are uncountably
many.
The smallest non-cyclic group has four elements; it is the Klein four-group. Four is also the
order of the smallest non-trivial groups that are not simple.
Four is the only integer n for which the (non trivial) alternating group An is not simple.
Four is the maximum number of dimensions of a real associative division
algebra (the quaternions), by a theorem of Ferdinand Georg Frobenius.
The four-color theorem states that a planar graph (or, equivalently, a flat map of two-
dimensional regions such as countries) can be colored using four colors, so that adjacent
vertices (or regions) are always different colors.[1] Three colors are not, in general, sufficient
to guarantee this. The largest planar complete graph has four vertices.
Lagrange's four-square theorem states that every positive integer can be written as the
sum of at most four square numbers. Three are not always sufficient; 7 for instance cannot
be written as the sum of three squares.
Each natural number divisible by 4 is a difference of squares of two natural numbers,
i.e. 4x = y2 − z2.
Four is the highest degree general polynomial equation for which there is a solution in
radicals.

List of basic calculations

Mul 1
1
tipli 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 5 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
cati 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 0 0
0
on 0
 4
1 2 4
4 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 8 8 8 9 9 0
4 8 0 0 0
× x 2 6 0 4 8 2 6 0 4 8 2 6 0 4 8 2 6 0 4 8 2 6 0
0 0 0
0

Divis 1 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 13 14 15 16
ion 0 2

1. 0. 0. 0.571 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0.307 0.285 0. 0.

4 ÷ x 4 2 1
3 8 6 428 5 4 4 36 3 692 714 26 25

0. 0. 0. 1. 1. 2. 2. 2. 3.
x ÷ 4 1 1.75 2 3 3.25 3.5 4
25 5 75 25 5 25 5 75 75

Exponent
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
iation

2
1 6 10 40 163 655 262 1048 4194 16777 67108
4x 4 5
6 4 24 96 84 36 144 576 304 216 864
6

2
1 8 62 12 240 409 656 1000 1464
x4 1 5 20736 28561
6 1 5 96 1 6 1 0 1
6

Evolution of the glyph

Two modern handwritten fours

Representing 1, 2 and 3 in as many lines as the number represented worked well.[citation

needed]
 The Brahmin Indians simplified 4 by joining its four lines into a cross that looks like the
modern plus sign. The Shunga would add a horizontal line on top of the numeral, and the
Kshatrapa and Pallava evolved the numeral to a point where the speed of writing was a
secondary concern. The Arabs' 4 still had the early concept of the cross, but for the sake of
efficiency, was made in one stroke by connecting the "western" end to the "northern" end;
the "eastern" end was finished off with a curve. The Europeans dropped the finishing curve
and gradually made the numeral less cursive, ending up with a glyph very close to the
original Brahmin cross.[2]
While the shape of the 4 character has an ascender in most modern typefaces, in
typefaces with text figures the character usually has a descender, as, for example,

in  .

On the seven-segment displays of pocket calculators and digital watches, as well as

certain optical character recognition fonts, 4 is seen with an open top.
Television stations that operate on channel 4 have occasionally made use of another
variation of the "open 4", with the open portion being on the side, rather than the top. This
version resembles the Canadian Aboriginal syllabics letter ᔦ or the Coptic letter Ϥ.
The magnetic ink character recognition "CMC-7" font also uses this variety of "4".

In religion
Buddhism
 Four Noble Truths – Dukkha, Samudaya, Nirodha, Magga
 Four sights – observations which affected Prince Siddhartha deeply and made him
realize the sufferings of all beings, and compelled him to begin his spiritual journey—
an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and an ascetic
 Four Great Elements – earth, water, fire, and wind
 Four Heavenly Kings
 Four Foundations of Mindfulness – contemplation of the body, contemplation of
feelings, contemplation of mind, contemplation of mental objects
 Four Right Exertions
 Four Bases of Power
 Four jhānas
 Four arūpajhānas
 Four Divine Abidings – loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy,
and equanimity
 Four stages of enlightenment – stream-enterer, once-returner, non-returner,
and arahant
 Four main pilgrimage sites – Lumbini, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, and Kusinara
Judeo-Christian symbolism
 The Tetragrammaton is the four-letter name of God.
 Ezekiel has a vision of four living creatures: a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle.
 The four Matriarchs (foremothers) of Judaism are Sarah, Rebekah, Leah,
and Rachel.
 The Four Species (lulav, hadass, aravah and etrog) are taken as one of
the mitzvot on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. (Judaism)
 The Four Cups of Wine to drink on the Jewish holiday of Passover. (Judaism)
 The Four Questions to be asked on the Jewish holiday of Passover. (Judaism)
 The Four Sons to be dealt with on the Jewish holiday of Passover. (Judaism)
 The Four Expressions of Redemption to be said on the Jewish holiday of Passover.
(Judaism)
 The four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. (Christianity)
 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride in the Book of Revelation. (Christianity)
 The Four Holy Cities of Judaism
Hinduism
 There are four Vedas: Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda.
 In Puruṣārtha, there are four aims of human life: Dharma, Artha, Kāma, Moksha.
 The four stages of life Brahmacharya (student life), Grihastha (household
life), Vanaprastha (retired life) and Sannyasa (renunciation).
 The four primary castes or strata of
society: Brahmana (priest/teacher), Kshatriya (warrior/politician), Vaishya (landowner/e
ntrepreneur) and Shudra (servant/manual laborer).
 The swastika symbol is traditionally used in Hindu religions as a sign of good luck
and signifies good from all four directions.
 The god Brahma has four faces.