Belphegor's prime

High school (ages 12+)
Mathematics & Numbers

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/belphegor-s-prime

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the number representation?1000000000000066600000000000001
2. What is the mathematical classification?A palindromic prime number
3. Why does it have the number 666 in the middle?The number 666 is placed right in the middle of the number to make it spooky and memorable.
4. How do mathematicians know if such a big number is prime?Scientists use super‑fast computers and special math tricks to check that the number has no divisors other than 1 and itself.

Number Theory: A branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and rational numbers.
Primality Test: An algorithm for determining whether a given number is prime or composite.
Distributed Computing: A system where components of software run on different networked computers, which communicate and coordinate their actions by passing messages.