Keeping clients' computers safe and profitable for over 30 years
Home Forms About Current Newsletter subscribe
For Fun
|
Preview: Long primes create repeating decimals with astonishing precision, but 142,857 stands out. Its cyclic rotations, transformation into 999,999, and hidden digital patterns reveal why it’s known as the legendary "Phoenix number.” |
If you divide 1 by 7 (1/7), you get a repeating sequence of 6 digits: 142857, sometimes called the Phoenix number because it is never-ending. In fact, there are an infinite (we think) number of such numbers that repeat with one less digit than the denominator (bottom number). They are called Long Primes. After 7, the next long prime numbers, 17, 19, and 23, all repeat infinitely with one less digit than themselves. For example,
1/17 = .05882352941176470588235294117647058823529411764705 which repeats every 16 digits.
.0588235294117647 0588235294117647 0588235294117647 etc.
Cyclic Permutations
If you multiply the Phoenix number 142,857 by 1 through 6, the results are the same digits in the same order, just starting from a different position. This is the core "rebirth” mechanic.
142,857 × 1 = 142,857
142,857 × 2 = 285,714
142,857 × 3 = 428,571
142,857 × 4 = 571,428
142,857 × 5 = 714,285
142,857 × 6 = 857,142
The "Death”
The metaphor of the Phoenix is most potent when you multiply by 7.
142,857 × 7 = 999,999
The "Rising from Ashes”
If you break the number 142,857 apart, the sum of its parts always "resurrects” the underlying pattern of 9s (the number of completion).
Splitting in halves:
142 + 857 = 999
Splitting in thirds:
14 + 28 + 57 = 99
Splitting in single digits:
1 + 4 + 2 + 8 + 5 + 7 = 27, which becomes 2 + 7 = 9.
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.