Abstract
We examine Euclid's lemma that if p is a prime number such that p|ab, then p divides at least one of a or b. Specifically, we consider the common misapplication of this lemma to numbers that are not prime, as is often made by undergraduate students. We show that a randomly chosen implication of the form r|ab ⇒ r|a or r|b is almost surely false in a probabilistic sense, and we quantify this with a corresponding asymptotic formula.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 924-927 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | American Mathematical Monthly |
| Volume | 123 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2016 |
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