Question

is 2^87 -1 a Mersenne prime
A. It is not possible to determine
B.yes
C. No

Answer 1

To determine whether \( 2^{87} - 1 \) is a Mersenne prime, we start by checking if 87 is a prime number, as a number of the form \( 2^p - 1 \) can only be prime if \( p \) is prime.

The number 87 can be factored as:

\[
87 = 3 \times 29
\]

Since 87 is not a prime number, \( 2^{87} - 1 \) cannot be a Mersenne prime.

Thus, the answer is:

C. No