What is the smallest positive composite integer?
4
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To find the smallest positive composite integer, we need to understand what a composite number is.
A composite number is a positive integer greater than 1 that has at least one factor other than 1 and itself. In other words, a composite number can be divided evenly by at least one number other than 1 and itself.
To start, we can check the numbers greater than 1 starting from 2 onwards. We will divide each number by all the numbers less than itself and see if there is any number other than 1 that divides it evenly. If we find such a number, the number is composite and we can stop searching.
Let's apply this method to find the smallest positive composite integer:
1. Start with the number 2. We cannot divide 2 by any number less than 2, so we move on.
2. Next, we check 3. We cannot divide it by any number less than 3, so we continue.
3. Now, we test 4. When we divide 4 by 2, we get a remainder of 0. This means that 4 is divisible by 2, and therefore it is composite. So, 4 is the smallest positive composite integer.
Therefore, the smallest positive composite integer is 4.