Prime numbers can be defined as numbers that can only be divided by one and the number itself. A prime number will always have only two factors, that is, the number itself and one. 2, 3, 19 are examples of a prime number. Suppose we take the number 10. The factors of 10 are 1, 2, 5, and 10. As it has more than two factors (apart from 1 and 10), it is known as a composite number. Prime numbers are an arithmetic mystery that is not just limited to having only two factors. Once Euclid proved that the list of primes is endless, there has been constant research going on about primes that continue even to date. One ongoing project called the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search aims to find prime numbers. It has yielded the largest prime number that has 23,249,425 digits and can fill 9000 pages of a book taking 14 years to compute this value. Prime numbers see great use in cybersecurity and cryptography.
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