Prime Time

(4 Minute Read plus video. 20Sep2023)

What does the word “prime” bring to mind?

A delicious cut of meat?
Amazon’s premium buying service?
A superlative product?

For many today it’s Deion Sanders, the head football coach of the University of Colorado Buffaloes. He played 14 seasons with five football teams in the NFL and 9 seasons with four major league baseball teams.

Sanders is the only athlete to play in both the Super Bowl and the World Series. He is also the only player ever to hit a major league home run and score a touchdown in the NFL in the same week, which he did in 1989.

During his playing career he was nicknamed Prime Time for his showmanship and highlights. He is one of only two players to score an NFL touchdown six different ways: interception return, punt return, kickoff return, receiving, rushing, and fumble recovery. Now Sanders is known as Coach Prime.

Coach Prime is not only a former NFL stand out and Hall of Famer, but he is a superb marketeer. He has made Colorado football of interest nationwide. So far this year he has led Colorado to big wins over TCU (45-42), Nebraska (36-14), and Colorado State (43-35).

One thing I like about Sanders is his boldness in proclaiming his belief in God. Last December when he was introduced at a press conference as the new head coach for Colorado, he said this:
“Wow. Don’t you ever tell me what God ain’t. Don’t you ever tell me His limits. Don’t you ever tell me what you’re up against and what you can’t do. . . . Out of all the persons in the world, God chose me. For that, I thank Him; for that, I love Him; for that, I magnify Him; for that, I glorify Him; for that, I praise Him; for that, I owe Him. Each and every day, I’m trying to please Him.”
(From Deion Sanders thanks and glorifies God at University of Colorado press conference.)

In an Instagram post of July 31, 2023, Sanders included this caption:
“Sex won’t satisfy you. Fame won’t satisfy you. Drugs won’t satisfy you. Money won’t satisfy you. Alcohol won’t satisfy you. Success won’t satisfy you. Life is empty without Jesus. He is the only one who can satisfy your heart. Amen.”

Here is a 100-second YouTube video of Deion Sanders speaking of his faith in Jesus Christ.

 
Coach Prime brings to mind these Bible verses:
I have become a marvel to many,
For You are my strong refuge.
My mouth is filled with Your praise
And with Your glory all day long. (Psalm 71:7-8)

Time for Primes

But when I hear the word prime, a different concept jumps to mind. I think of something far more fascinating than football — prime numbers.

A prime number is an integer (whole number) greater than 1 with no divisors other than itself and one. That is, a prime number is not a product of two smaller positive integers. In other words, a prime number does not come from multiplying any other whole numbers together.

For example, six is not a prime number because 2 and 3 divide into it evenly. The first 10 prime numbers are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, and 29.

Some of the deepest questions in mathematics involve prime numbers and they have highly practical applications. Data is encrypted online using encryption algorithms based on prime numbers, namely the practical impossibility of factoring a number that is the product of two huge primes. Prime numbers keep your information secure.

Farm Equipment Gears
The large gear has 21 teeth and the
small gear has 13, a prime number.
This ensures the two sets of teeth have
no common divisors for even wear.

Another long-known application of prime numbers is meshing gears. At least one gear of a pair should have a prime number of gear teeth. The idea is to ensure that the two numbers of gear teeth have no common divisors in order to distribute wear evenly between the gears.

There are an infinite number of prime numbers as shown by this brief but elegant argument dating back to Euclid. Suppose by way of contradiction that there were a finite number N of primes. Multiply all the N primes together and add one. That yields a new prime number because all the supposedly existing prime numbers divide into it with a remainder of one. Thus it has no divisors and is therefore prime, so there are at least N+1 primes. This shows the original assumption of N primes is false.

Currently the largest known prime number is
2^82,589,933 – 1.
This prime number has 24,862,048 digits and was found in 2018. It is over a million digits longer than the previous record holder.

In case this notation is confusing, it means that this largest known prime number is calculated by multiplying together 82,589,933 twos, and then subtracting 1.
For example, 2³ – 1 = 2x2x2 – 1 = 8 – 1 = 7.

If you were to write out this largest known prime number, three digits to an inch every second, it would take you 96 days and nights — over three full months just to write it down! The written number would be over 130 miles long. That is a BIG prime number.

Just two and a half months ago, one of the 20 largest known primes was discovered.
3 × 2^20,928,756 − 1 has 6,300,184 digits, discovered 5July2023. It is the 19th largest known prime.

There are many simple questions about prime numbers that are as yet unanswerable. For example, 3 and 5, 17 and 19, 29 and 31, are examples of twin primes — two prime numbers that differ by two. Are there an infinite number of twin primes? Nobody knows.

Another is Goldbach’s Conjecture: Every even integer greater than 2 can be expressed as the sum of two primes. For example, 8 = 3 + 5 and 12 = 5 + 7 are even numbers that are the sum of two primes.

The Twin Prime Conjecture and Goldbach’s Conjecture are readily understood statements about prime numbers, but nobody has been able to prove or disprove them.

The mystery, intrigue, and glory of prime numbers reflect the Great Mathematician in whom are hidden all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom (Colossians 2:3).

Questions to Ponder

1. When math seems confusing, do you recall that the Great Creator actually thought it all up from scratch?
2. What arena, large or small, has God assigned for you to speak up for His glory?

Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.

For Christ and His Kingdom.
Alere Flammam Veritatis.
Soli Deo Gloria.

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©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday, September 20, 2023 A.D.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

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