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Is 100 a prime number?

100 is not a prime number. Here is the quickest way to see it.

The answer

No. 100 is not a prime number: 2 × 50 = 100.

How to see that 100 is not prime

100 is even, and every even number can be divided by 2, so 2 is a factor as well as 1 and 100.

100 has 9 factors (1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50 and 100), which make 5 factor pairs.

Split 100 into prime factors

Split off the smallest prime each time, and keep going until every part is prime:

  1. 100 = 2 × 50
  2. 100 = 2 × 2 × 25
  3. 100 = 2 × 2 × 5 × 5

With the repeated primes written as powers, that is 2² × 5².

100 in the times tables

Just one of the 2 to 12 times tables has 100 in it: 10 × 10 = 100.

Quick checks that catch 100

  • The last digit, 0, is even, so 2 goes in.
  • Half of it is 50, which is still even, so 4 goes in.
  • It ends in 0, so 5 goes in.
  • It ends in 0, so 10 goes in.

100 at a glance

In words
one hundred
In Roman numerals
C
Odd or even
Even: it ends in 0
Square number
10 × 10 = 100
Multiple of 10
10 tens
Its factors add up to
217, or 117 without 100 itself, which makes 100 an abundant number

The numbers either side of 100

  • 99 is not prime. Its digits add up to 9 + 9 = 18, which is a multiple of 3. That means 99 is a multiple of 3 too, so 3 is a factor. Check 99 in full
  • 101 is prime: 2, 3, 5 and 7 do not go into it, and 11 × 11 is already past 101.

Related pages

More numbers

Questions parents ask

Which prime numbers are either side of 100?

97 below it and 101 above it, a gap of 4.

What is 100 squared?

100 × 100 = 10000.

What is the smallest number with as many factors as 100?

36. It has 9 factors, the same as 100.

Number facts are the base of 11+ maths

Factors, multiples, primes and square numbers come up all over 11+ maths, from simplifying fractions to ratio. The free diagnostic checks maths, English and both kinds of reasoning, and shows what to practise next. No card is required.