Onion Article Published in a WaPo Column

[Lul Thyme]

So is 6=-1*-6=-2*-3...


This can get muddy pretty fast.
It depends on what definition you are using.
Most definitions explicitly require p>1 for a prime, but it depends on how you want the Unique Factorization Decomposition theorem to hold.

You can either say that only positive numbers can be prime in which case every integer is up to a unit (1 or -1)uniquely factorizable as a product of primes.

Or you can accept negative primes as primes and say that every integer is uniquely factorizable as a product of primes up to associates (p vs -p).

The point is I've seen many references and sources, even in advanced abstract algebra whose definition of primes would include negative ones.

[Asher]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
-7 isn't a prime number. It is divisible by -1.

I was under the impression that, by definition, prime numbers are natural numbers who only have two positive divisors: 1 and itself.

[The Mad Monk]

You Passed 8th Grade Math



Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

http://www.blogthings.com/couldyoupasseighthgrademathquiz/

That average / median / mode question almost had me.

[Drake Tungsten]

That average / median / mode question almost had me.

You're not the only one...

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
And your employees need to do this, as opposed to say, the manager? You're changing the parameters.

I'd like my employee to notice **** like this, and catch me in case I **** up.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
-7 isn't a prime number. It is divisible by -1.

So is 7

Certain forms of the definition allow negative numbers to be primes, though most conventional definitions do not.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Asher

I was under the impression that, by definition, prime numbers are natural numbers who only have two positive divisors: 1 and itself.

It depends who you ask. Your definition is vaguely ambiguous on the 1 as a prime number question.

[loinburger]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
And your employees need to do this, as opposed to say, the manager? You're changing the parameters.

If I didn't want my employee to be able to do something like this, then I wouldn't bother hiring somebody who graduated from high school.