Where exactly do prime numbers serve a purpose and what is the purpose

iamawriter Level 1

January 7, 2018, 7:08 am

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Where exactly do prime numbers serve a purpose and what is the purpose

Most of us know what prime numbers They are numbers that are not divisible save by themselves and the number 1. There is a new number discovered which is the largest in this category which has 23 MILLION DIGITS that needs about 9000 pages.

Do any of you know anything about the use of these numbers as to their application?

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overcast

Prime numbers are mostly used in the cryptography. There are some branches of the cryptography that benefits from the making use of the prime numbers. Also golden ratio number is also used in the cryptography. So depending on the algorithm, those number are being used. There are many other IT centric applications where these numbers are made use of. So it's interesting to see that.

7 years ago

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Barida

Barida

To be honest, I never had this knowledge and knowing that Prime numbers can be use in cryptocurrencies is amazing. This has got to show that mathematics is an indispensable part of human existence.

7 years ago

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overcast

overcast

Most of the things in maths that are invented are used in engineering. And that's where the real use is for them. And usually day to day operations are not seen with those things. Not all things in maths have immediate use. But as you build up complexity the usage is increased.

7 years ago

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ballyhara

ballyhara

Same! didn't know about this either, and good to learn a little bit about it. What I used to know, is that they were used as a compilation method, like when you want to save files or data. Don't really know about the way mathematics do it, but that's kind of a save and complicated way to do it. Thanks for the tip on cryptocurrencies, definitively I will check about it.

7 years ago

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augusta

augusta

This is a new one,I was wondering what it all about until Isaw this your comment.Great input there maybe I will have to research more about this.We learn daily and this one is very new to me.

7 years ago

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Steve5

Steve5

Me too. Prime numbers are part of the great mystery of Mathematics. I'm sure they have lots of purpose we've yet to see. Kind of like the golden ratio present in nature.

7 years ago

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kgord

kgord

Well this is something I never knew. I am not a mathematician though by any stretch of the imagination so it is not surprising I had not idea what prime numbers were used for. It just seeemed like one of the mysteries of the universe I guess. I am glad to hear the answer.

7 years ago

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overcast

overcast

It's nothing about mathematician. You can see that the use of the prime numbers have it's set of the requirement. And you may just have to know where it is used. For most people that means it'd be not that hard to use purpose. You can see many people making use of the prime numbers this way.

7 years ago

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kgord

kgord

I disagree with this a bit. Most of cryptology and cryptography is larger made up of numbers, so yes, you have to have a mathematical background. For reference, watch the movie "The imitation Game."

7 years ago

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overcast

overcast

I am not going by movies. I am using existing libraries in python and C++. And for that usage you don't need to know the math. And all you have to do is make use of the existing functions. Sometimes on the end user side you don't need math. Just knowing how to use the code is more than enough.

7 years ago

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AmieBotella

AmieBotella

I have to read on about this. Here's what I find out which is interesting to know.

You may be reading through all of this and wondering what exactly is the point of finding out prime numbers? Up until the 19th century, there was little use for prime numbers, and mathematicians calculated them hoping to make some form of a breakthrough. Calculation of prime numbers was a purely mathematical endeavor. But, in the 19th century, there was a need for secrecy, especially during times of war. Messages and files needed to encoded, so that the enemy couldn’t read them. Encryption was used, and computers were used to make more complex, harder to crack codes. It was found that using two prime numbers multiplied together makes a much better key than any old number, because it has only four factors. One, itself, and the two primes that it is a product of. This makes the code much harder to crack. Finally, after thousands of years, man had a real use for primes, and what better use than keeping documents and files safe. Prime numbers can also be used in pseudorandom number generators, and in computer hash tables. Primes only use is in the computer world, and we still don’t have any use for primes in the physical world, however some say that some insects do.

Some insects will live in the ground for a number of years, and come out after 13 or 17 years. Both 13 and 17 are prime numbers, and by emerging at these times, it makes it harder for predators to adapt and kill the insects, and therefore more of them survive. One bug that does this is the cicada.
SOURCE: http://www.odec.ca/projects/2007/fras7j2/uses.htm

Amazing to know right? Now where is that twenty three million digit prime number? I think someone might want to discover the answer to this 23 digit prime number multiplied by 2!

7 years ago

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kgord

kgord

That is really interesting to know. I am not terribly far from Washington DC and there is a National Cryptology Museum between Washington and Baltimore I have always wanted to go to. I never seem to have the time though or it's not open. I am going to have to figure out when I can get there.

7 years ago

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iamawriter

iamawriter

If you multiply that 23 million digit number by 2 then that number ceases to be a prime as it will be divisible by 2 and that is what my tiny brain tells me (lol)

I read through your post but must stay I am still at square one. I would rather savour the benefits that great mathematicians have worked on. Having said that if there is anyone here who can explain this phenomena for a lay person to understand it would be welcome.

7 years ago

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Steve5

Steve5

Thanks for this information. It's interesting to know that it's used for creating hard to crack codes. I like that it's useful for keeping secrets safe. It must be highly effective to still be used until now.

7 years ago

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DenisP

DenisP

For the longest time, there wasn't really much use for prime numbers. In fact, for thousands of years there wasn't any use at all. It wasn't until about the 19th century that mathematicians actually found a use for them. It all came about due to the necessity for secrecy, particularly during times of war.

Long story short, mathematicians devised a way to use prime numbers in order to encrypt and encode important data in order to keep it safe from the enemy. With the advent of the computer, prime numbers became a key factor in making extremely hard to crack codes. Besides that, there's literally no use for them.

7 years ago

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aeon

aeon

prime numbers is very important for some people who studying nature, they said you will find it in the structure of a beehive in the scales of pineapple, or to the petals of a rose. They found the prime numbers in cicada insects, they use the prime numbers to come out of their burrows and lay eggs.

7 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

Prime numbers are being used by the RSA Encryption Algorithm which is commonly used in secure commerce websites. It is being widely use in cryptography and are of the outmost importance to number theorists because it is the building block of whole numbers.

7 years ago

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mitan143

mitan143

Mathematics has different and unique uses in different fields of work, and definitely it is being used for calculations. In technology, the idea or the concept of prime numbers has mathematical logic behind and is being used in vital applications in the modern world. For example, the prime factorization rule is very essential to most modern supercomputers which processes extremely large numbers.

7 years ago

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stbrians

stbrians

Am amazed at this number. Do not write it here because it will make a post. Prime numbers have many purposes. We count them and without them counting will be hard. Many other uses have been listed in previous comments

6 years ago

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Corzhens

Corzhens

I’m not sure if it is in algebra or trigonometry that the prime numbers are used in computation. There are formulas that involve prime numbers when I was in college although I don’t exactly remember even with just one example. To be honest, until now I couldn’t see the use of prime numbers to me although it is also good that we know what a prime number is. That is an addition to our knowledge.

6 years ago

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