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Is 76 a prime number?

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

The answer

No. 76 is not a prime number: 2 × 38 = 76.

How to see that 76 is not prime

76 is even, and every even number can be divided by 2, so 2 is a factor as well as 1 and 76.

76 has 6 factors (1, 2, 4, 19, 38 and 76), which make 3 factor pairs.

Split 76 into prime factors

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

  1. 76 = 2 × 38
  2. 76 = 2 × 2 × 19

With the repeated primes written as powers, that is 2² × 19.

76 in the times tables

No fact from the 2 to 12 times tables, up to × 12, makes 76. Its smallest pair, 2 × 38, needs the 38 times table, which goes past 12.

Quick checks that catch 76

  • The last digit, 6, is even, so 2 goes in.
  • Half of it is 38, which is still even, so 4 goes in.

76 at a glance

In words
seventy-six
In Roman numerals
LXXVI
Odd or even
Even: it ends in 6
Its factors add up to
140, or 64 without 76 itself, which makes 76 a deficient number

The numbers either side of 76

  • 75 is not prime. Its digits add up to 7 + 5 = 12, which is a multiple of 3. That means 75 is a multiple of 3 too, so 3 is a factor. Check 75 in full
  • 77 is not prime. 77 is odd, its digits do not add up to a multiple of 3, and it does not end in 5, so the quick checks for 2, 3 and 5 all fail. Try 7 next: 7 × 11 = 77. Check 77 in full

Turn the digits round

76 backwards is 67. 67 is prime: 2, 3, 5 and 7 do not go into it, and 11 × 11 is already past 67. Check 67 in full

Related pages

More numbers

Questions parents ask

Which prime numbers are either side of 76?

73 below it and 79 above it, a gap of 6.

What is 76 squared?

76 × 76 = 5776.

What is the smallest number with as many factors as 76?

12. It has 6 factors, the same as 76.

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.