Starting from the positive integer , a digit is added in front of each term in succession, forming the following sequence:
, , , , , ...
How many terms in this sequence are prime?
Starting from the positive integer , a digit is added in front of each term in succession, forming the following sequence:
, , , , , ...
How many terms in this sequence are prime?
Only the st term of this sequence is prime; all other terms are composite.
Denote the th term of this sequence by . By mathematical induction, the following facts can be established:
- is divisible by . , and . So are all multiples of .
- is divisible by . , and . So are all multiples of .
- is a multiple of . , and is a multiple of . So are all multiples of .
- is a multiple of . , and is a multiple of , so are all multiples of .
In summary, only is prime; all other terms are divisible by one of , and are therefore composite.