A dizzying number of digits

A mathematician has spent millions of pounds of his own money in search of a very special number – the world’s largest prime number. A prime number is a number greater than one that can only be divided by itself and the number one, for example two, three, five and seven. It took Luke Durant a whole year to find the number, which is so big it has more than 41 million digits. He worked it out using lots of computers linked together by the internet. On discovering the enormous number, Durant said, “It was a pretty big surprise.” Durant’s work has been applauded by the maths community and he was awarded £2,300 for it. Is this story real or does it all add up to a lie?* *Real! Durant…

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The Week Junior (UK) (Digital) - 1 Issue, 465

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