mariofelixpasku wrote:If 17! + 2 ≤ K ≤ 17! + 17, is K ever a prime number?
The quick answer is
no
First of all 17! + 2 is not prime. Here's why:
17! + 2 = (17)(16)(15)....(3)(
2)(1) +
2
Notice we can factor out a 2 here to get:
17! + 2 =
2[(17)(16)(15)....(3)(1) + 1]
This means that 17! + 2 is divisible by 2, which means it is
not prime
Similarly, 17! + 3 is not prime.
17! + 3 = (17)(16)(15)....(4)(
3)(2)(1) +
3
Notice we can factor out a 3 here to get:
17! + 3 =
3[(17)(16)(15)....(4)(2)(1) + 1]
This means that 17! + 3 is divisible by 3, which means it is
not prime
As you can see, we can continue the process for 17!+4, 17!+5,... 17!+17
Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
