Daniel Roethlein

Harris
PreCalculus
9/19/17
Twin Primes Write Up
In this assignment, we learned about twin primes. Twin primes are prime numbers that
differ by two and can be multiples of a perfect square when one is added to it. Also, except for 3
and 5, you will always get a multiple of 36 with this concept. In this problem solving set, we
were tasked with why this happens.
For part a of the problem set, we had to list 100 prime numbers. Then, we had to look at
their answers after we multiplied the twin primes together and added 1. Here is my data after I
had finished this part:
A B A*B+1
3 5 16 = 4^2
5 7 36 = 6^2
11 13 144 = 12^2
17 19 324 = 18^2
29 31 900 = 30^2
41 43 1,764 = 42^2
59 61 3,600 = 60^2
71 73 5,184 = 72^2

If you look closely at the table, you will notice something peculiar. If you square the
perfect square (highlighted in yellow), the resulting number is always the number in between the
twin primes. But when this method is tested on other numbers that aren’t prime, this rule stays
true. Here are some examples:
A B A*B+1
7 9 64 = 8^2
8 10 81 = 9^2
12 14 169 = 13^2
16 18 289 = 17^2

For this reason, the only unique property with the twin primes is the fact that they are
multiples of 36. Once I finished playing with the twin prime sets, I started on an equation from
those facts:
 (A * C) + 1 = B
36
Where A and C= twin primes and B = the number between A and C
This equation is true for only twin prime numbers. This is because only twin primes
would be divisible by 36. Although, I could simplify this equation further by narrowing down
how many variables are in the equation.