Talk:Prime number

message: The image provided at the top of this article is given the caption "Composite numbers can be arranged into rectangles but prime numbers cannot." However, this seems slightly vague, and there is room for inaccuracy in that vagueness. The word "arranged" might imply that some amount of re-configuring is required to get the end result. However, a number that is arranged in a straight line of units is already a rectangle, with height 1. On articles about even slightly more subjective topics, I would not balk at word choice, given that many different words and phrases could be used interchangeably. However, as this is a math-related page about prime numbers, I feel like there is a responsibility to have unerring accuracy. Morgandeefox (talk) 17:58, 11 November 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: This is the caption of an image, not a definition. Despite its vagueness, this caption should be easily understood by everybody. Adding accuracy seems non-compatible with a short caption (see MOS:CAPSUCCINCT). Also, "rectangle" is clearly used in its common meaning, since no set of bullets is geometrically a rectangle. D.Lazard (talk) 18:22, 11 November 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: Thank you for your response. I find it informative, and a satisfactory address of my concerns. Morgandeefox (talk) 22:30, 11 November 2022 (UTC)

text: Or (as one of my favorite aphorisms puts it): "An ounce of imprecision saves a ton of explanation." EEng 07:01, 6 June 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Can a rectangle not have two of its parallel sides equal to 1? 

message: See Talk:Prime (disambiguation)#Should Prime be a WP:D page (Prime (disambiguation)), or be a redirect to Prime number?. Lennart97 (talk) 15:33, 14 February 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Relevant requested move 

message: There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Prime (disambiguation) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you.  —RMCD bot 18:32, 14 February 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Move discussion in progress 

message: This puzzles me: two apples, two teachers, one each. Four apples, two teachers, two each. How then the prime? Would not the best be divided into equal whole equal parts  ? 50.220.179.34 (talk) 05:56, 6 June 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Can you clarify what you mean by that? If you are simply saying that a set of two objects can be partitioned into two sets of one, then of course that is true, but so what? What does that have to do with content of the article Prime number? If, on the othe hand, you don't mean that, then I have no idea what you do mean. JBW (talk) 12:59, 6 June 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: trolling? Dhrm77 (talk) 13:54, 6 June 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Two is the only even prime number. Beyond that, it's hard to say what this question means.--♦IanMacM♦ (talk to me) 14:53, 6 June 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: I am sorry this was also addressed here but with a little less detail. (I top posted). I believe 2 must not be prime because it is both a whole and equally portion-able number. I thought composite meant 'can share equally and whole' (for both school-aged/elementary and math aged-giants). 50.220.179.34 (talk) 07:54, 28 October 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: It seems that you use "equally portion-able number" in the sense of even number. It is true that 2 is an even number, and that it is the only even number that is also a prime number. Please, be care that using current English words instead of accurately defined mathematical words can be the source of many mistakes. In particular your thought about the mathematical meaning of "composite" is erroneous: the definition of a composite number is to be a whole number that can be obtained by multiplying two smaller whole numbers. This is not related with 'can share equally and whole', whichever meaning is attributed to this phrase that is nonsensical for me. D.Lazard (talk) 09:01, 28 October 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: What is meant by "equally portion-able number" even as say 77 can be 7 of 11 or 11 of 7 and whole numbers so can be odd. This makes sense to me. 50.220.179.34 (talk) 05:14, 1 November 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Every positive integer n may be divided into n copies of 1 or into one copy of n; one might call these the "trivial factorizations".  A number is composite if it also has some other ("nontrivial") decomposition into an equal number of equal integers (equivalently, in which both the number of pieces and the size of the pieces is smaller than the number n itself).  Four apples may be divided into equal piles in three different ways: four piles each containing one apple (trivial), one pile containing all four apples (trivial), or two piles each with two apples (nontrivial).  --JBL (talk) 19:56, 15 November 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Two as a composite 

message: I don't know why, but since my last edit on this article 30 minutes ago, I can't edit this article anymore. It always says "The server did not respond within the expected time.", no matter how often I try to publish my changes. It's so weird because I can edit other articles just fine. I already tried restarting my device and to re-login. Nothing works. Please help, thanks.-- Maxeto0910 (talk) 22:58, 20 July 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Based on the version history, it seems like my edit was now published after trying it dozens of times, though they still aren't displayed in the article for me. I never experienced those problems since editing Wikipedia.-- Maxeto0910 (talk) 23:26, 20 July 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: This seems like a Wikipedia technical problem. It's not about you. –jacobolus (t) 00:14, 21 July 2023 (UTC)
replies: text:  I cannot even read the article, the server blocks on this particular page.--Sapphorain (talk) 07:21, 21 July 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: I have been seeing slowdowns for a few days on many long Wikipedia mathematics articles. See discussion of the same issue for golden ratio at . —David Eppstein (talk) 07:26, 21 July 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  I can't edit this article 

message: We have a problem! The definition of a prime number in the first sentence is wrong. It currently reads "A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers." By this definition 8 is prime. It should read, "A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of smaller natural numbers." Or, "A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two or more smaller natural numbers."  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.206.176.154 (talk) 20:43, 10 November 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: The number 8 is the product of 2 · 4, and is therefore a composite number. –jacobolus (t) 21:15, 10 November 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Two smaller natural numbers? 

message: there are multiple prime numbers. this article is about all of them. Rguyr (talk) 17:21, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Cf. WP:SINGULAR and WP:PLURAL. –jacobolus (t) 18:03, 30 December 2023 (UTC)

text: I agree that would be a good idea 71.14.253.152 (talk) 15:02, 14 March 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: If it's common and reasonable to talk about one prime number at a time (as it is), then Wikipedia's standard convention is to use a singular title. —David Eppstein (talk) 17:52, 14 March 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  rename this article to prime numbers. 

message: : Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. - FlightTime (open channel) 15:55, 3 May 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 3 May 2024