Mathematicians have been searching for a formula that yields prime numbers. One such formula was x2 - x+41. Select some numbers for x, substitute them in the formula,and see if prime numbers occur. Try to find a number for x that when substituted in the formula yields a composite number
Have you substituted and tried?
To determine if the formula x^2 - x + 41 yields a prime number, we can substitute different values for x and check the resulting output. Let's try substituting some numbers and see if prime numbers occur:
1. For x = 1:
substitute x into the formula: 1^2 - 1 + 41 = 41
41 is a prime number.
2. For x = 2:
substitute x into the formula: 2^2 - 2 + 41 = 43
43 is a prime number.
3. For x = 3:
substitute x into the formula: 3^2 - 3 + 41 = 47
47 is a prime number.
Let's continue trying some more values:
4. For x = 4:
substitute x into the formula: 4^2 - 4 + 41 = 57
57 is a composite number since it can be factored as 3 * 19.
The value x = 4 yields a composite number when substituted into the formula x^2 - x + 41.
Therefore, x = 4 is an example where the formula produces a composite number.