# help with this assertion: The only number divisible by 3 and that is prime is 3

I have encountered this phrase within a proof by prime numbers and couldn't figure out if it is true.

Is there any proof lurking around for this fact?

thanks!

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Suppose for contradiction that $x\neq 3$ is divisible by $3$ and is prime. Then the only numbers dividing $x$ are $1$ and $x$. But $3$ divides $x$. So we have $x=1$ or $x=3$. Each of these is a contradiction.

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Or even better, lose the indirection and say: Suppose that $x$ is divisible by $3$ and is prime. Then the only numbers dividing $x$ are $1$ and $x$. But $3$ divides $x$. Since $3$ is not $1$, we must have $3=x$. – Henning Makholm Oct 25 '12 at 16:03

If a number is divisible by $3$ and it's not $3$, then the number is not prime.

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Well that's not much more than a reformulation (but it's hard to make obvious things more obvious -they are just not obvious for everyone) – Hagen von Eitzen Oct 25 '12 at 15:55

Well, it's trivial (and this is sometimes the reason to make it so hard to see).

To avoid getting confused by trivialities, it is often helpful to re-formulate the statement. Here, for example: "Any number (positive integer) other than 3 that is divisable by 3 is not a prime". See it? Once again:

Let $x \not= 3$ be any positive integer that is divisable by $3$. Can $x$ be a prime number?

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Hint $\$ If $\rm\:ab\:$ is prime then $\rm\:a > 1\:\Rightarrow\: b=1\:\Rightarrow\:ab =a.\:$ Yours is the special case $\rm\:a = 3.$

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Just observe that any multiple of 3 must repeat that 3 some number of times, and that number would be its factor. For example 6 is 2*3. 9 is 3*3. 12 is 4*3. As you can see, each multiple of 3 has two factors, of which one is 3, and the other is some natural number. And if there are factors, you have a composite number, which is the opposite term for prime number (if something is composite, it cannot be prime). The only multiple of 3 which doesn't have any factors beyond 3 (and 1, which we usually don't consider as factor, since it doesn't produce anything new) is the number 3 itself, which is prime.

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Suppose $a\neq 3$ is a positive multiple of $3$. Then $a > 3$ and $3$ is a divisor that is not $1$ or $a$...hence $a$ cannot be prime.

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