Special Numbers

A Lesson in the Math + Fun! Series

May 2005

Special Numbers

Slide 1

About This Presentation

This presentation is part of the Math + Fun! series devised by Behrooz Parhami, Professor of Computer Engineering at University of California, Santa Barbara. It was first prepared for special lessons in mathematics at Goleta Family School during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years. The slides can be used freely in teaching and in other educational settings. Unauthorized uses are strictly prohibited. Behrooz Parhami Edition First Released May 2005 Revised Revised

May 2005

Special Numbers

Slide 2

What is Special About These Numbers?

Numbers in purple squares? Numbers in green squares? Circled numbers?
May 2005 Special Numbers Slide 3

Atoms in the Universe of Numbers

H2O
Two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom

Prime number (atom) Composite number (molecule)

Are the following numbers atoms or molecules? For molecules, write down the list of atoms:

2 7 12 17 22

3 8 13 18 23

4 9 14 19 24

5 10 15 20 25

May 2005

12 = 22 3 Molecule 13 = 13 Atom 14 = 2 7 Molecule 15 = 3 5 Molecule 6 Atom 19 = 19 Molecule 27 = 33 11 30 = 2 3 5 16 32 = 25 MoleculeMolecule Atom 47 = 47 21 50 = 2 52 Molecule 70 = 2 5 7 Molecule Special Numbers Slide 4

Is There a Pattern to Prime Numbers?

Primes appear to be randomly distributed in this list that goes up to 620. Primes become rarer as we go higher, but there are always more primes, no matter how high we go.

May 2005

Special Numbers

Slide 5

Ulams Discovery
73 72 71 70 69 68 67 66 65 74 43 42 41 40 39 38 37 64 75 44 21 20 19 18 17 36 63 76 45 22 7 6 5 16 35 62 77 46 23 8 1 4 15 34 61 78 47 24 9 2 3 14 33 60 79 48 25 10 11 12 13 32 59 80 49 26 27 28 29 30 31 58 81 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57

Stanislaw Ulam was in a boring meeting, so he started writing numbers in a spiral and discovered that prime numbers bunch together along diagonal lines
May 2005

Primes pattern for numbers up to about 60,000; notice that primes bunch together along diagonal lines and they thin out as we move further out
Slide 6

Special Numbers

Ulams Rose
Primes pattern for numbers up to 262,144. Just as water molecules bunch together to make a snowflake, prime numbers bunch together to produce Ulams rose.
May 2005 Special Numbers Slide 7

Explaining Ulams Rose

Table of numbers that is 6 columns wide shows that primes, except for 2 and 3, all fall in 2 columns
2 8 14 20 26 32 38 44 50 56 62 68 74 80 86 92 3 9 15 21 27 33 39 45 51 57 63 69 75 81 87 93 4 10 16 22 28 34 40 46 52 58 64 70 76 82 88 94 5 11 17 23 29 35 41 47 53 59 65 71 77 83 89 95 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 78 84 90 96 7 13 19 25 31 37 43 49 55 61 67 73 79 85 91 97 Special Numbers Slide 8

The two columns whose numbers are potentially prime form this pattern when drawn in a spiral

6k 1 6k + 1 Pattern

May 2005

Activity 1: More Number Patterns

Color all boxes that contain multiples of 5 and explain the pattern that you see.
2 8 14 20 26 32 38 44 50 56 62 68 74 80 86 92 May 2005 3 9 15 21 27 33 39 45 51 57 63 69 75 81 87 93 4 10 16 22 28 34 40 46 52 58 64 70 76 82 88 94 5 11 17 23 29 35 41 47 53 59 65 71 77 83 89 95 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 78 84 90 96 7 13 19 25 31 37 43 49 55 61 67 73 79 85 91 97

Color all boxes that contain multiples of 7 and explain the pattern that you see.
2 8 14 20 26 32 38 44 50 56 62 68 74 80 86 92 Special Numbers 3 9 15 21 27 33 39 45 51 57 63 69 75 81 87 93 4 10 16 22 28 34 40 46 52 58 64 70 76 82 88 94 5 11 17 23 29 35 41 47 53 59 65 71 77 83 89 95 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 78 84 90 96 7 13 19 25 31 37 43 49 55 61 67 73 79 85 91 97 Slide 9

73 72 71 70 69 68 67 66 65

74 43 42 41 40 39 38 37 64

75 44 21 20 19 18 17 36 63

Activity 2: Number Patterns in a Spiral

76 45 22 7 6 5 16 35 62 77 46 23 8 1 4 15 34 61 78 47 24 9 2 3 14 33 60 79 48 25 10 11 12 13 32 59 80 49 26 27 28 29 30 31 58 81 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 73 72 71 70 69 68 67 66 65 74 43 42 41 40 39 38 37 64 75 44 21 20 19 18 17 36 63 76 45 22 7 6 5 16 35 62 77 46 23 8 1 4 15 34 61 78 47 24 9 2 3 14 33 60 79 48 25 10 11 12 13 32 59

80 49 26 27 28 29 30 31 58

81 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57

Color the multiples of 3. Use two different colors for odd multiples (such as 9 or 15) and for even multiples (such as 6 or 24).
May 2005

Color all the even numbers that are not multiples of 3 or 5. For example, 4 and 14 should be colored, but not 10 or 12.
Slide 10

Special Numbers

Perfect Numbers
A perfect number equals the sum of its divisors, except itself 6: 28: 496: 1+2+3=6 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 = 28 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 31 + 62 + 124 + 248 = 496

An abundant number has a sum of divisors that is larger than itself 36: 60: 100: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 6 + 9 + 12 + 18 = 55 > 36 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 10 + 15 + 20 + 30 = 96 > 60 1 + 2 + 4 + 5 + 10 + 20 + 25 + 50 = 117 > 100

A deficient number has a sum of divisors that is smaller than itself 9: 23: 128:
May 2005

1+3=4<9 1 < 23 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 = 127 < 128

Special Numbers Slide 11

For each of the numbers below, write down its divisors, add them up, and decide whether the number is deficient, abundant, or perfect.
Number Divisors (other than the number itself) 12 18 28 30 45 Sum of divisors Type

Activity 3: Abundant, Deficient, or Perfect?

Challenge questions: Are prime numbers (for example, 2, 3, 7, 13, . . . ) abundant or deficient? Are squares of prime numbers (32 = 9, 72 = 49, . . . ) abundant or deficient? You can find powers of 2 by starting with 2 and doubling in each step. It is easy to see that 4 (divisible by 1 and 2), 8 (divisible by 1, 2, 4), and 16 (divisible by 1, 2, 4, 8) are deficient. Are all powers of 2 deficient?
May 2005 Special Numbers Slide 12

Why Perfect Numbers Are Special

Some things we know about perfect numbers
There are only about a dozen perfect numbers up to 10160 All even perfect numbers end in 6 or 8

Some open questions about perfect numbers

Are there an infinite set of perfect numbers? (The largest, discovered in 1997, has 120,000 digits) Are there any odd perfect numbers? (Not up to 10300 ) 10160 = 10 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
May 2005 Special Numbers Slide 13

1089: A Very Special Number

Follow these instructions: 1. Take any three digit number in which the first and last digits differ by 2 or more; e.g., 335 would be okay, but not 333 or 332. 2. Reverse the number you chose in step 1. (Example: 533) 3. You now have two numbers. Subtract the smaller number from the larger one. (Example: 533 335 = 198) 4. Add the answer in step 3 to the reverse of the same number. (Example: 198 + 891 = 1089)

The answer is always 1089.

May 2005 Special Numbers Slide 14

Special Numbers and Patterns

Why is the number 37 special? 3 6 9 12 37 = 111 37 = 222 37 = 333 37 = 444 and and and and 1+1+1=3 2+2+2=6 3+3+3=9 4 + 4 + 4 = 12 Here is an amazing pattern: 12 = 1 112 = 121 1112 = 12321 11112 = 1234321 111112 = 123454321

When adding or multiplying does not make a difference. You know that 2 2 = 2 + 2. But, these may be new to you: 1 1/2 3 = 1 1/2 + 3 1 1/3 4 = 1 1/3 + 4 1 1/4 5 = 1 1/4 + 5
May 2005 Special Numbers

Playing around with a number and its digits: 198 = 11 + 99 + 88 153 = 13 + 53 + 33 1634 = 14 + 64 + 34 + 44
Slide 15

Continue these patterns and find out what makes them special. 1 1+3 1+3+5 1+3+5+7 1+3+5+7+9 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 + 13 1 3+5 7 + 9 + 11 13 + 15 + 17 + 19 21 + 23 + 25 + 27 + 29 31 + 33 + 35 + 37 + 39 + 41 43 + 45 + 47 + 49 + 51 + 53 + 55
May 2005

Activity 4: More Special Number Patterns

1 1+2+1 1+2+3+2+1 1+2+3+4+3+2+1 1+2+3+4+5+4+3+2+1 1 14 142 1428 14285 142857 1428571 14285714 142857142 1428571428 7 + 3 = 10 7 + 2 = 100 7 + 6 = 1000 7 + 4 = 10000 7 + 5 = 100000 7 + 1 = 1000000 7 + 3 = 10000000 7 + 2 = 100000000 7 + 6 = 1000000000 7 + 4 = 10000000000
Slide 16

Special Numbers

Activity 5: Special or Surprising Answers

Can you find something special in each of the following groups? Whats special about the following? 12 27 39 42 483 = 5796 198 = 5346 186 = 7254 138 = 5796 What is special about 9? 1 9 + 2 = ___ 12 9 + 3 = ____ 123 9 + 4 = _____ What is special about 327? 327 1 = _____ 327 2 = _____ 327 3 = _____ Do the following multiplications: 3 51249876 = ____________ 9 16583742 = ____________ 6 32547891 = ____________
Special Numbers Slide 17

Do the following multiplications: 4 1738 = _______ 4 1963 = _______ 18 297 = _______ 28 157 = _______ 48 159 = _______
May 2005

Numbers as Words
We can write any number as words. Here are some examples: 12 Twelve 21 Twenty-one 80 Eighty 3547 Three thousand five hundred forty-seven 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Zero One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eight Five Four Nine One Seven Six Ten Three Two Zero Three Nine One Five Ten Seven Zero Two Four Eight Six
Special Numbers

One Two Six Ten Zero Four Five Nine Three Seven Eight

Eight Four Six Ten Two Zero Five Nine One Seven Three
Slide 18

May 2005

Activity 6: Numbers as Words

Alpha order Alpha order, from the end Length order Evens and odds (in alpha order)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Zero One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten

Eight Five Four Nine One Seven Six Ten Three Two Zero

Three Nine One Five Ten Seven Zero Two Four Eight Six

One Two Six Ten Zero Four Five Nine Three Seven Eight

Eight Four Six Ten Two Zero Five Nine One Seven Three

If we wrote these four lists from zero to one thousand, which number would appear first/last in each list? Why? What about to one million?
May 2005 Special Numbers Slide 19

Activity 7: Sorting the Letters in Numbers

Spell out each number and put its letters in alphabetical order (ignore hyphens and spaces). You will discover that 40 is a very special number! 0 eorz 1 eno 2 otw 3 eehrt 4 foru 5 efiv 6 isx 7 eensv 8 eghit 9 einn
May 2005

10 ent 11 eeelnv 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 enttwy 21 eennottwy 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
Special Numbers

30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39

40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49
Slide 20

Next Lesson
Not definite, at this point: Thursday, June 9, 2005

It is believed that we use decimal (base-10) numbers because humans have 10 fingers. How would we count if we had one finger on each hand?

000 001 010 011 100 101 110 111

Computers do math in base 2, because the two digits 0 and 1 that are needed are easy to represent with electronic signals or on/off switches.
May 2005 Special Numbers Slide 21