WHAT ARE PRIME AND COMPOSITE NUMBERS?

Prime numbers are numbers that have only 1 and itself as factors. Composite numbers are
numbers that have factors other than 1 and itself.

WHY DO I NEED TO STUDY PRIME AND COMPOSITE NUMBERS?

Prime numbers are considered to be the basic unit of a number. Knowing their characteristics
will allow you to understand patterns in other branches of Math, and to work on interesting and
challenging problems in Number Theory. If you aspire to be a coder or computer programmer,
you’ll find that the algorithms used in various systems find their foundations in prime numbers
too. Multiples, on the other hand, are closely linked to Divisibility rules, and will also help you in
solving non-routine Math problems.

WHAT ARE THE IDEAS RELATED TO PRIME AND COMPOSITE NUMBERS?

FACTORS
Factors are numbers that are multiplied to get a certain product.

Example: 2 and 3 are factors of 6, since 2 x 3 = 6. But 1 x 6 = 6 too, so 1 and 6 are factors of 6
as well. Therefore, the factors of 6 are 1, 2, 3, and 6.

Example: The factors of 11 are 1 and 11, since 1 x 11 = 11. Can you think of other factors of 11?

PRIME & COMPOSITE NUMBERS

One way of classifying numbers is based on their factors. A prime number is a number, whose
only factors are 1 and itself. A composite number is a number that has factors other than 1 and
itself.

Example: 11 is a prime number, since its only factors are 1 and itself. 6 is composite because it
has factors other than 1 and itself. These other factors are 2 and 3.

Another way to look at factors is to consider the ways in which a number can be evenly divided
into groups.

Example: 2 is a factor of 12 because 12 = 2 x 6. This means that 12 objects can be divided into
2 groups of 6, without any object left behind.
However, 5 is not a factor of 12 because it is not possible to divide 12 objects into groups of 5
evenly.

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Because prime numbers can only be divided by 1 and itself, they are considered to be the
building blocks of natural numbers.

The special number 1 is neither prime nor composite. This is the only number with this unique
characteristic. Every natural number greater than 1 can be classified as either prime or
composite.

Example: What is the sum of the prime numbers less than 20?

Solution: First, we need to list down all the primes less 20. If you find it difficult to identify the
prime numbers in a list, one way to check is to divide the number by 2, 3, 5, and so on (except
for these numbers, which you know to be prime).

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

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

These numbers are divisible by 2.

These numbers are divisible by 3.
These numbers are divisible by 5.

The numbers left out are the prime numbers.

Therefore, the sum that we’re looking for is 2 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 11 + 13 + 17 + 19 = 77

Example: What are the factors of 100?
Solution:
100 = 1 x 100
= 2 x 50
= 4 x 25
= 5 x 20
= 10 x 10

The numbers -2 and -50 will give product of 100 when multiplied too, so they are also factors of
100. They are negative factors of 100. However, in the context of classifying numbers as either
prime or composite, only the positive factors are taken into consideration.

Example: Is the number 273,304 prime or composite?

Solution:
The questions asks, does 273,304 have factors other than 1 and itself?
Is 2 a factor of 273,304?

Yes, 2 is a factor, and therefore it is composite.

If 2 is a factor of a number, then it is called an even number. If a number cannot be divided

evenly by 2, then it is odd.

Example: Is 143 even or odd?

Solution: To check if a number is even or odd, simply divide it by 2. If there is no remainder, then
it is even. Otherwise, it is odd.

143 ÷ 2 = 71 r 1

Therefore, 143 is odd.

A faster way to check the parity (even-ness or odd-ness) of a number is by looking at the last
digit. If the number ends in 2, 4, 6, 8, or 0, then it is even.

The number 2 is also a special number, because it is the only even prime number. Every other
even number is composite.

Example: Is the number 143 prime or composite?

Solution: To check if a number is prime, one can do trial division--dividing the given number by
possible prime factors.
We already know that 143 is not divisible by 2, since it is odd. To check the other prime factors,
we can do the actual division. To save on time and minimize mistakes, take note of some
guidelines:

143 ÷ 3:
A number is divisible by 3 (or has a factor of 3) if the sum of its digits is divisible by 3.
1 + 4 + 3 = 8, and 8 is not divisible by 3, so 143 is not divisible by 3 either.

143 ÷ 4:
A number is divisible by 4 if the last 2 digits are divisible by 4, or are both 0. Since 43 is not
divisible by 4, 143 is not divisible by 4 either.

143 ÷ 5:
A number is divisible by 5 if it ends in a 5 or a 0. Since this is not the case for 143, it is not
divisible by 5.

143 ÷ 6:
A number is divisible by 6 if it is divisible by both 2 and 3. Therefore, 143 is not divisible by 6.

143 ÷ 7:
Doing the actual division, we get a remainder of 3. Thus, 143 is not divisible by 7.

Since 2 and 3 are not factors of 143, then we know that 8 and 9 are not factors, either. Another
way to verify this is by applying the following rules:

A number is divisible by 8 if the last 3 digits are divisible by 8, or are all 0.

A number is divisible by 9 if the sum of its digits is divisible by 9.

We know that 143 is not divisible by 10, since it does not end in 0.

143 ÷ 11:
A 3-digit number is divisible by 11 if the sum of the first and last digits is equal to the middle
digit.
1 + 3 = 4, so 143 is divisible by 11. Since 143 has a factor of 11, then it is composite.

In the case of larger numbers, you may also try division by 13, 17, and 19.

PRIME FACTORIZATION

The process of listing down the factor pairs of a given number is called factoring. There is a
special kind of factoring, called prime factorization, where the factors of a number are factored
further, until all remaining factors are prime numbers.
Example: What is the prime factorization of 72?

Solution: To come up with the prime factors of a number, we construct what is known as a factor
tree--a diagram that breaks down each factor into its prime factors.

The prime factorization stops when all the numbers on the bottom row of each branch are prime
numbers.

72 =3x3x2x2x2
= 32 x 23

The prime factorization of a natural number is unique; that is, you will get the same set of prime
factors regardless of what factor pair you start with at the top of the tree. This uniqueness is
what makes prime numbers useful in making codes and programs for your computer.

Below is another factor tree for 72.

72 = 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 x 3 = 23 x 32

Example: What is the prime factorization of 96?

Solution:

Different factor trees may be formed for 96, depending on which factor pair you begin with.
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But each one will end with the same set of prime factors.

96 = 25 x 3

If you find it hard to think of a factor pair to start the factor tree, divide the number by the
smallest prime number you can think of (usually 2 or 3) and work from there.

Example: What is the prime factorization of 138?

Solution:
138 is even, so we can begin by dividing it by 2.
69 is not even, but it can be divided by 3.

Since 23 is already a prime number (you can check this by dividing it by 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and so on),
we have the prime factors of 138.

138 = 2 x 3 x 23