The Goldbach conjecture is that every even number greater than 2 is the sum of two prime numbers. Is infinity an even number? If so, since infinity cannot be the sum of 2 prime numbers, does that mean the Goldbach conjecture is not true?
I have a question about the Goldbach conjecture?
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- 3+ months ago by OppositeO...
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- number, prime, every, infinity, question, greater, numbers
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Added 3+ months ago:
There is also a second Goldbach conjecture that says that every number-- even or odd-- is the sum of three prime numbers. But infinity cannot be the sum of 3 prime numbers. Does that mean the second Goldbach conjecture is false?
Answers (2)
Talk about infinity is usually silly because there are three definitions. Some people don't know any of them, and some mix the three concepts.
1. Infinity is a number bigger than you are able to measure. So if you only have a twelve inch ruler then thirteen inches is infinity. The longest ruler we have is the width of the Earth's orbit. By measuring parallax we can accurately calculate distances to about 3,260 light years. Anything farther than that is infinity. But astronomers think they can get around that by clever logic.
2. Infinity is big without limit.
3. Something something blah blah
There really is not much to be gained by discussing infinity.
