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Prime Numbers: Exercises

This document contains 23 exercises about prime numbers and their properties. It explores techniques for determining if a number is prime, such as using a calculator or the Sieve of Eratosthenes. It also examines the prime factorization of various numbers and proofs regarding properties of primes, like whether distinct primes multiplied together are relatively prime. The document aims to build understanding of primes and their behaviors.

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Amiya Biswas
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107 views

Prime Numbers: Exercises

This document contains 23 exercises about prime numbers and their properties. It explores techniques for determining if a number is prime, such as using a calculator or the Sieve of Eratosthenes. It also examines the prime factorization of various numbers and proofs regarding properties of primes, like whether distinct primes multiplied together are relatively prime. The document aims to build understanding of primes and their behaviors.

Uploaded by

Amiya Biswas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Prime Numbers: Exercises

1. Use the Sieve of Eratosthenes to find all primes less than 200.

2. Suppose that p, q, r, s are four distinct primes. Could pq = rs? Why or why
not?

3. Use a calculator or computer to determine whether or not 30001 is prime.


√
4. The only primes less than 400 = 20 are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, and 19. Suppose
that n is a number less than 400 which is not divisible by any of these primes.
What can you conclude about n? Justify your answer.

5. Prove rigorously that 397 is prime. (You may use a calculator to carry out
the division algorithm, but construct a proof in which the number of divisions
is minimum.)

6. Prove rigorously that 1999 is prime.

7. Prove that if p is a prime then gcd(a, p) = 1 if and only if p - a (p does not


divide a).

8. Find the prime factorization of the following numbers:

(a) 4800
(b) 2012
(c) 371
(d) 220 − 1 = 1048575.

9. If n is an even positive integer, how many primes are there of the form 2n − 1?

10. How many primes can be written in the form a3 − 1, where a is an integer?

11. Let n be an integer. If d > 1 is the smallest nontrivial positive divisor of n,


prove that d must be prime.

12. Which primes, if any, can be written in the form a4 −b4 for integers a, b? Prove
your answer.

13. If p is a prime, how many positive divisors does pn have? Prove your answer.

14. Show that if a, b are positive integers and a3 divides b2 then a | b.

15. Suppose that a = pu1 1 pu2 2 · · · puk k and b = pv11 pv22 · · · pvkk , where p1 , . . . , pk are
mk
distinct primes. Show that gcd(a, b) = pm 1 m2
1 p2 · · · pk , where mj = min(uj , vj )
for each j = 1, . . . , k.

1
16. Use the result of the previous problem to compute the following:

(a) gcd(23 52 172 , 25 311 17)


(b) gcd(210 , 311 )

17. Show that if p, q are distinct primes then pr and q s are relatively prime for
any positive integers r, s.
n
18. Define Gn = 22 − 1, for each positive integer n.

(a) Evaluate G1 , G2 , and G3 .


(b) Prove that Gn | Gn+1 for every positive integer n.
(c) Prove that Gn has at least n distinct prime factors for each n.
(d) Explain why part (c) proves that there are an infinite number of primes.
n
19. Define Fn = 22 + 1, for each positive integer n.

(a) Compute F0 , F1 , F2 , and F3 .


(b) Show that gcd(Fn , Fn+1 ) = 1, for all positive integers n.
(c) Explain why part (b) gives yet another proof that there are an infinite
number of primes.

20. Show that p(x) = x2 − x + 41 is prime for all x = 1, 2, 3, . . . , 40. What does
this imply about p(41)? Is p(41) prime?

21. In Fermat’s factorization method, which factors n by finding integers s, t such


that n = s2 − t2 , what are the integers s, t if n is prime?

22. Use Fermat factorization to factor the following:

(a) 2279
(b) 11413.

23. According to the famed prime number theorem, what is the approximate num-
ber of primes ≤ 100, 000? How about the approximate number of primes not
exceeding one million?

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