Number Theory
Dive into the hidden patterns of whole numbers. From unbreakable prime numbers to the 'clock math' that keeps your online game accounts safe!
The Atoms of Math
Think of prime numbers (like 2, 3, 5, 7) as the atomic building blocks of math. Every other number can be built by multiplying primes together. Even though they seem simple, primes are so unpredictable that mathematicians are still trying to crack their patterns today!
Clock Math
If it's 10:00 AM and you play a game for 4 hours, it's not 14:00 AM—it's 2:00 PM. You just did modular arithmetic! This looping 'clock math' is the secret ingredient behind the passwords and encryption that protect everything on the internet.
Unsolved Mysteries
Math isn't finished! There are still questions about numbers that a 10-year-old can understand but the smartest supercomputers can't solve. For example: can every even number be split into two prime numbers? We think so, but nobody has ever proven it!
Things worth remembering.
The biggest known prime number is so huge, it would take you over 100 days just to write it down!
Zero wasn't always a number. It was invented in ancient India and completely changed the world.
Cicadas (a type of bug) use prime numbers for their hibernation cycles to avoid predators.
Your Wi-Fi password is protected by math equations that use giant prime numbers.
Practice problems.
If you multiply two odd numbers, will the answer be odd or even?
Show hint
Try testing it out with a few small odd numbers like 3x3 or 5x7. Notice a pattern?
What is the smallest number that can be divided evenly by 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5?
Show hint
You don't need to multiply them all together. Look at the numbers carefully—4 is just 2x2!
If today is Tuesday, what day of the week will it be 100 days from now?
Show hint
Use 'clock math' but for days of the week. Divide 100 by 7 and look at the remainder.
