Integer Notes

Prime Numbers

 Prime numbers are natural numbers that are divisible by only 1 and the number itself.
 In other words, prime numbers are positive integers greater than 1 with exactly two factors, 1 and the number itself. 
 Always remember that 1 is neither prime nor composite
 All prime numbers are odd numbers except 2,
 2 is the smallest prime number and is the only even prime number.
 A prime number is a positive integer having exactly two factors,
 Another way of defining it is a positive number or integer, which is not a product of any other two positive integers other than 1 and the number
itself. 

Properties of Prime Numbers

Some of the properties of prime numbers are listed below:

 Every number greater than 1 can be divided by at least one prime number.
 Every even positive integer greater than 2 can be expressed as the sum of two primes.
 Except 2, all other prime numbers are odd. In other words, we can say that 2 is the only even prime number.
 Two prime numbers are always coprime to each other.
 Each composite number can be factored into prime factors and individually all of these are unique in nature.

Facts About Prime Numbers

The table below shows the important points about prime numbers. These will help you to solve many problems in mathematics.

Smallest Prime 2
Number

Largest Prime As of November 2022, the largest known prime number is 282,589,933 – 1, with 24,862,048 digits.
Number
It was founded by the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) in 2018.

Even Prime 2 is the only even prime number, and the rest of the prime numbers are odd numbers, hence
Number called odd prime numbers. 

The prime numbers with only one composite number between them are called twin prime numbers
or twin primes. The other definition of twin prime numbers is the pair of prime numbers that differ
by 2 only. For example, 3 and 5 are twin primes because 5 – 3 = 2.

The other examples of twin prime numbers are:

Twin Prime  (5, 7) [7 – 5 = 2]

numbers  (11, 13) [13 – 11 = 2]
 (17, 19) [19 – 17 = 2]
 (29, 31) [31 – 29 = 2]
 (41, 43) [43 – 41 = 2]
 (59, 61) [61 – 59 = 2]
 (71, 73) [73 – 71 = 2]

Coprime Two numbers are called coprime to each other if their highest common factor is 1. Prime numbers
 and coprime numbers are not the same. For example, 6 and 13 are coprime because the common
numbers factor is 1 only.

How to Find Prime Numbers?

The following two methods will help you to find whether the given number is a prime or not.
Method 1:
We know that 2 is the only even prime number. And only two consecutive natural numbers which are prime are 2 and 3. Apart from those, every
prime number can be written in the form of 6n + 1 or 6n – 1 (except the multiples of prime numbers, i.e. 2, 3, 5, 7, 11), where n is a natural
number.
For example:
6(1) – 1 = 5
6(1) + 1 = 7
6(2) – 1 = 11
6(2) + 1 = 13
6(3) – 1 = 17
6(3) + 1 = 19
6(4) – 1 = 23
6(4) + 1 = 25 (multiple of 5)
…
Method 2:
To know the prime numbers greater than 40, the below formula can be used.
n2 + n + 41, where n = 0, 1, 2, ….., 39
For example:
(0)2 + 0 + 0 = 41
(1)2 + 1 + 41 = 43
(2)2 + 2 + 41 = 47

Prime Numbers vs Composite Numbers

A few differences between prime numbers and composite numbers are tabulated below:

Prime Numbers Composite Numbers

A prime number has two factors only. A composite number has more than two factors.

It can be divided by 1 and the number itself.

It can be divided by all its factors. For example, 6 is divisible by 2,3 and
6.
For example, 2 is divisible by 1 and 2.

Examples: 2, 3, 7, 11, 109, 113, 181, 191,

Examples: 4, 8, 10, 15, 85, 114, 184, etc.
etc.

What are Co-Prime Numbers?

Suppose x and y are two positive integers such that they are called co prime numbers if and only if they have 1 as their only common factor and
thus HCF(x, y) = 1. In other words,  Co-prime numbers are a set of numbers or integers which have only 1 as their common factor i.e.
their highest common factor (HCF) will be 1. Co-prime numbers are also known as relatively prime or mutually prime numbers. It is important
that there should be two numbers in order to form co-primes.

How to Find Co-prime Numbers?

Consider a set of two numbers, if they have no positive integer that can divide both, other than 1, the pair of numbers is co-prime.
Example 1: 21 and 22

For 21 and 22:

 The factors of 21 are 1, 3, 7, and 21.

 The factors of 22 are 1, 2, 11, and 22.

Here 21 and 22 have only one common factor that is 1. Hence, their HCF is 1 and are co-prime.

Example 2: 21 and 27

For 21 and 27:

 The factors of 21 are 1, 3, 7, and 21.

 The factors of 27 are 1, 3, 9, and 27.

Here 21 and 27 have two common factors; they are 1 and 3. HCF is 3 and they are not co-prime.

Properties of Co-Prime Numbers

Some of the properties of co-prime numbers are as follows. These are called tricks to identify the pairs of co prime numbers quickly.
  1 is co-prime with every number.
 Any two prime numbers are co-prime to each other: As every prime number has only two factors 1 and the number itself, the only common factor of two
prime numbers will be 1. For example, 2 and 3 are two prime numbers. Factors of 2 are 1, 2, and factors of 3 are 1, 3. The only common factor is 1 and
hence they are co-prime.
 Any two successive numbers/ integers are always co-prime: Take any consecutive numbers such as 2, 3, or 3, 4 or 5, 6, and so on; they have 1 as their HCF.
 The sum of any two co-prime numbers are always co-prime with their product: 2 and 3 are co-prime and have 5 as their sum (2+3) and 6 as the product
(2×3). Hence, 5 and 6 are co-prime to each other.
 Two even numbers can never form a coprime pair as all the even numbers have a common factor as 2.
 If two numbers have their unit digits as 0 and 5, then they are not coprime to each other. For example 10 and 15 are not coprime since their HCF is 5 (or
divisible by 5).

Co Prime Numbers and Twin Prime Numbers

We know that coprime numbers are the numbers whose HCF is 1, (i.e.) two numbers whose common factor is 1 only are called co prime
numbers. On the other hand, twin prime numbers are the prime numbers whose difference is always equal to 2. For example, the difference
between 3 and 5 is 2, and hence 3 and 5 are twin prime numbers. The major difference between twin prime and co-prime numbers are as follows:

 The difference between two twin prime numbers is always equal to 2, whereas the difference between two co-prime numbers can be any number.
 Twin prime numbers are always prime numbers, whereas the co-prime numbers can also be a composite number.

What is the difference between prime and Coprime numbers?

A prime number is defined as a number that has no factor other than 1 and itself. On the contrary, co-primes are considered in pairs and two
numbers are co-prime if they have no common factors other than 1.
Is 1 Coprime to All numbers?
Yes, 1 is coprime to all the numbers. Since HCF of 1 and any number is 1 itself. Hence, by the definition of coprime numbers, 1 said to be
coprime with all numbers.
Finding Prime Numbers Using Factorization
Factorisation is the best way to find prime numbers. The steps involved in using the factorisation method are:

 Step 1: First find the factors of the given number

 Step 2: Check the number of factors of that number
 Step 3: If the number of factors is more than two, it is not a prime number.

Example: Take a number, say, 36.

Now, 36 can be written as 2 × 3 × 2 × 3.  So, the factors of 36 here are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 36. Since the number of factors of 36 is more
than 2, it is not a prime number but a composite number.

Now, if we take the example of 19. The prime factorisation of 19 is 1 x 19. You can see here, there are two factors of 19. Hence, it is a prime
number.

How to Tell if a Large Number is Prime?

There are some Prime Number Formulas, which can be used to find the primes. To check whether a large number is a prime number or not,
follow the steps given below:

 Step 1: Check the units place of that number. If it ends with 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8, it is not a prime number.

Note: “Numbers ending with 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 are never prime numbers.”

 Step 2: Take the sum of the digits of that number. If the sum is divisible by 3, the number is not a prime number.

Note: “Numbers whose sum of digits are divisible by 3 are never prime numbers.”
  Step 3: After confirming the falsity of steps 1 and 2, find the square root of the given number.
 Step 4: Divide the given number by all the prime numbers below its square root value.
 Step 5: If the number is divisible by any of the prime numbers less than its square root, it is not a prime number; otherwise, it is prime.

Exception: If a large number is ending with 5, then it is always divisible by 5. Hence, it is not a prime number

Shortcut to Find Prime Numbers

One of the shortcuts to finding the prime numbers are given below.

 Step 1: Write all the numbers from 1 to 100 with 6 numbers in a row (as shown in the figure).
 Step 2: As the square root of 100 is ±10, the multiples of numbers till 10 has to be crossed out.
 Step 3: Choose 2 and cross the entire column as all are multiple of 2. Also, cross out the entire columns of 4 and 6 as those are also 2’s multiples.
 Step 4: Now move to 3 and cross out the entire column.
 Step 5: Take 5 and cross out the diagonally towards left. Then, cross out diagonally from numbers 30, 60, and 90. Now, all the multiples of 5 are crossed out.
 Step 6: Choose 7 and cross out diagonally towards the right. Then, check the next number on that column which is divisible by 7 and cross diagonally right.
The first number on that column that is divisible by 7 is 49 and then 91. Crossing diagonally right from 49 to 91 leaves no multiples of 7 on the list.

Now, the remaining numbers on this list are prime numbers. The image below shows this list.
Prime Numbers List

Prime numbers 1 to 100

2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83, 89, 97

Prime numbers 101 to 200

101, 103, 107, 109, 113, 127, 131, 137, 139, 149, 151, 157, 163, 167, 173, 179, 181, 191, 193, 197, 199

Prime numbers 201 to 300

211, 223, 227, 229, 233, 239, 241, 251, 257, 263, 269, 271, 277, 281, 283, 293

Prime numbers 301 to 400

307, 311, 313, 317, 331, 337, 347, 349, 353, 359, 367, 373, 379, 383, 389, 397

Prime numbers 401 to 500 401, 409, 419, 421, 431, 433, 439, 443, 449, 457, 461, 463, 467, 479, 487, 491, 499

Prime numbers 501 to 600

503, 509, 521, 523, 541, 547, 557, 563, 569, 571, 577, 587, 593, 599

Prime numbers 601 to 700

601, 607, 613, 617, 619, 631, 641, 643, 647, 653, 659, 661, 673, 677, 683, 691

Prime numbers 701 to 800

701, 709, 719, 727, 733, 739, 743, 751, 757, 761, 769, 773, 787, 797

Prime numbers 801 to 900

809, 811, 821, 823, 827, 829, 839, 853, 857, 859, 863, 877, 881, 883, 887

Prime numbers 901 to 1000

907, 911, 919, 929, 937, 941, 947, 953, 967, 971, 977, 983, 991, 997.