Is 1 A Prime Number? Prime and Composite Number

Is 1 a Prime Number? How can you tell whether a number is prime or composite? Let’s start by defining what constitutes a number ‘prime.’ A prime number is an integer higher than one with just one and itself as components.

Composite numbers are those that have more than two components. The number one is neither composite nor prime. Let us study in detail about 1 as a prime number with examples.

Is 1 a Prime Number?

The answer to the question ‘why 1 is not a prime number’ lies in the definition of prime numbers i.e. is “The numbers other than 1 whose only factors are 1 and the number itself are called Prime Numbers“. Therefore we can state the fact that 1 is not a prime number.

So the next question that might pop in your mind is if 1 is not a prime number then which is the smallest prime number and the answer is 2. Two is considered as the smallest prime number because it satisfies the condition of a prime number.

Why Isn’t 1 A Prime Number?

This is another question that you might think of because now that you know that 1 is not a prime number so it may be composite. But the answer to this question is also No because composite numbers are those which have 2 or more than 2 factors and 1 has a single factor only.

What is 1 Called if Not a Prime Number?

Now that we have explained that 1 is neither prime nor composite we will help you know what 1 can be called. Here is the list of number types or categories in which 1 falls: