42 (number) facts for kids

Forty-two is a number. It comes right after forty-one and just before forty-three. It is also an even number, which means it can be divided by two without any remainder.

You can divide 42 evenly by several numbers. These are 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 14, 21, and 42 itself.

What Makes 42 Special in Math?

The number 42 has many interesting features that mathematicians enjoy studying. Here are a few of them:

• Pronic Number: Forty-two is a pronic number because it's the result of multiplying two numbers that are right next to each other. For example, 6 multiplied by 7 equals 42.
• Sphenic Number: It is also a sphenic number. This means it's the product of three different prime numbers. Prime numbers are numbers that can only be divided by 1 and themselves. For 42, these prime numbers are 2, 3, and 7 (because 2 x 3 x 7 = 42).
• Abundant Number: Forty-two is an abundant number. This means that if you add up all its "proper divisors" (numbers that divide into it evenly, not including 42 itself), the sum is greater than 42. The proper divisors of 42 are 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 14, and 21. If you add them up (1+2+3+6+7+14+21), you get 54, which is more than 42.

42 in Books and Stories

The number 42 shows up in many famous books and stories.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

In Douglas Adams' popular science fiction books, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 42 is known as the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything." A supercomputer named Deep Thought spent 7.5 million years calculating this answer.

Lewis Carroll's Writings

The number 42 also appears often in the books of Lewis Carroll, whose real name was Charles Dodgson. He was a mathematician, so he liked to include numbers in his stories.

• In his poem The Hunting of the Snark, the number 42 is mentioned several times.
• In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Rule Forty-two states: "All persons more than a mile high to leave the court."

Images for kids

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  The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything

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  Jackie Robinson in his now-retired number 42 jersey

See also

In Spanish: Cuarenta y dos para niños