We say that a natural number, p > 1, is prime if its only natural number factors are p and 1. If a natural number is not prime, then we say that it is composite.
The above definition implies that any counting number (natural number
) that has more than two factors (is greater than 1 and is not prime) is a composite number.
Example: The value six, 6, is a composite number because it has four counting number factors: 1, 2, 3, and 6. We have 1 · 6 = 6 and 2 · 3 = 6.
It turns out that mathematicians have declared that 1 is neither prime nor composite. The reason for this has to do with prime factorization which is the topic of the next session.
Which of the following natural number are composite?
27, 37, 57, 87, 97
return to top | previous page | next page
Content ©2010. All Rights Reserved.
Date last modified: June 24, 2010.
Created with SoftChalk LessonBuilder
By Kris Montis and Timothy Peil
