Sexy primes

Today's video answers that vital question that I know has been burning in the back of your mind: What happens when two numberphiles play with prime numbers? The Latin for six is sex , hence, the name "sexy primes" for prime numbers that differ from each other by six (p, p + 6) -- numbers such as 5 and 11. But you can also find three prime numbers that differ by six; the so-called sexy prime triplets (p, p + 6, p + 12), such as 7, 13, 19. Aaand there are sexy prime quadruplets (p, p + 6, p + 12, p + 18), such as 5, 11, 17, 23. And last but not least, there is one -- and only one -- sexy prime quintuplet: 5, 11, 17, 23, 29. How do we know this? In this video, mathematician James Grime goes through the explanation for why there is just one sexy prime quintuplet: [ video link ] The length of this video -- 647 -- is likewise a prime number and further, it is a sexy prime (647, 653), the first in a sexy prime triplet (647, 653, 659) and the second member of a sexy prime quadruplet (641, 647, 653, 659). Whew! .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. In this video, we met: James Grime, a mathematician and public speaker on behalf of the Millennium Mathematics Project from the University of Cambridge, who shares his insights on The Singing Banana Numberphile , a project by video journalist Brady Haran, is on facebook and can also be found on twitter @ numberphile .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. twitter: @ GrrlScientist facebook: grrlscientist evil google+: grrlscientist email: [email protected]