Question


A twin prime is a prime number that is either two less or two more than another prime number. For example, 5 and 7 are a pair of twin primes. A major problem in mathematics is to determine whether there are infinitely many twin primes. Currently, nobody knows the answer.
Steve's teacher tells him there is a pair of twin primes whose product is equal to 899. Steve uses this equation to find the twin primes:
n(n+2)=899

in this equaion what does n represent?

Answers

GPT-4o mini
In the equation \( n(n+2) = 899 \), the variable \( n \) represents the smaller of the two twin primes. Since twin primes are pairs of prime numbers that differ by 2, if \( n \) is the smaller twin prime, then \( n + 2 \) is the larger twin prime.

So, in this context, \( n \) is the smaller prime in the twin prime pair, while \( n + 2 \) is the larger prime in that pair. The equation is set up to find a pair of twin primes such that their product equals 899.