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Reverted 1 edit by ~2025-34782-35 (talk) to last revision by Istiller

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{{Other uses|42 (disambiguation){{!}}42}}

{{Infobox number
| number = 42
| divisor = 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 14, 21, 42
| greek prefix =
| latin prefix =
}}

'''42''' ('''forty-two''') is the [[natural number]] following [[41 (number)|41]] and preceding [[43 (number)|43]].

== Mathematics ==
42 is a [[pronic number]],<ref name="Pronic">{{Cite OEIS|1=A002378|2=Oblong (or promic, pronic, or heteromecic) numbers|access-date=2016-05-30}}</ref> an [[abundant number]]<ref>{{Cite OEIS |A005101 |Abundant numbers (sum of divisors of m exceeds 2m). |access-date=2024-01-07 }}</ref> as well as a [[highly abundant number|highly abundant]] number,<ref>{{Cite OEIS |A002093 |Highly abundant numbers |access-date=2024-11-14 }}</ref> a [[practical number]],<ref>{{Cite OEIS |A005153 |Practical numbers |access-date=2024-11-14 }}</ref> and a [[Catalan number]].<ref>{{Cite OEIS|A000108|Catalan numbers|access-date=2016-05-30}}</ref>

The 42-sided ''tetracontadigon'' is the largest such [[regular polygon]] that can only tile a vertex alongside other regular polygons, without [[tiling the plane]].<ref>{{Cite journal |first1=Branko |last1=Grünbaum |author-link=Branko Grünbaum |first2=Geoffrey |last2=Shepard |author-link2=G.C. Shephard |title=Tilings by Regular Polygons |date=November 1977 |url=http://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/images/upload_library/22/Allendoerfer/1978/0025570x.di021102.02p0230f.pdf |journal=[[Mathematics Magazine]] |volume=50 |issue=5 |publisher=Taylor & Francis, Ltd.|pages=229–230 |doi=10.2307/2689529 |jstor=2689529 |s2cid=123776612 |zbl=0385.51006 |issn=0025-570X }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=Elmslie William |last=Dallas |author-link=Elmslie William Dallas |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y4BaAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA134 |title=The Elements of Plane Practical Geometry |chapter=Part II. (VII): Of the Circle, with its Inscribed and Circumscribed Figures − Equal Division and the Construction of Polygons |publisher=John W. Parker & Son, West Strand |location=London |year=1855 |page=134 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jardine |first=Kevin |url=http://gruze.org/tilings/3_7_42_shield|title=Shield - a 3.7.42 tiling |website=Imperfect Congruence |access-date=2023-01-09 }} 3.7.42 as a unit facet in an irregular tiling.</ref>

42 is the [[magic constant]] of the smallest non-trivial [[magic cube]], a <math>3 \times 3 \times 3</math> cube with entries of 1 through 27, where every row, column, corridor, and diagonal passing through the center sums to forty-two.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Andrews |first=William Symes |author-link=William Symes Andrews |title=Magic Squares and Cubes |url=https://djm.cc/library/Magic_Squares_Cubes_Andrews_edited.pdf |publisher=[[Dover Publications]] |edition=2nd |location=New York |year=1960 |page=65 |doi=10.2307/3603128 |jstor=3603128 |isbn=9780486206585 |oclc=1136401 |mr=0114763 |zbl=1003.05500 |s2cid=121770908 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite OEIS |A027441 |a(n) equal to (n^4 + n)/2 (Row sums of an n X n X n magic cube, when it exists). |access-date=2024-01-07 }}</ref>

42 can be expressed as the [[sum of three cubes]]: (80,435,758,145,817,515)3 + (12,602,123,297,335,631)3 + (-80,538,738,812,075,974)3 .<ref name="booker2019">{{Cite journal |last1=Booker |first1=Andrew R. |last2=Sutherland |first2=Andrew V. |year=2021 |title=On a question of Mordell |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=118 |issue=11 |arxiv=2007.01209 |bibcode=2021PNAS..11822377B |doi=10.1073/pnas.2022377118 |pmc=7980389 |pmid=33692126 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

[[File:Simple magic cube.svg|thumb|right|The 3×3×3 [[simple magic cube]] with rows summing to 42]]

== Wisdom literature, religion, and philosophy ==
* [[Abrahamic religions]]
** In [[Judaism]], by some traditions the [[Sefer Torah|Torah scroll]] is written with no fewer than 42 lines per column, based on the journeys of Israel.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ganzfried |first1=R. Solomon |translator-last1=Friendman |translator-first1=Jen |title= קסת הסופר|trans-title =Keset haSofer |date=1902|publisher=דפוס יוסף מאיר בלייער |location=Bardejov |edition=First |url=http://www.hasoferet.com/halakha-for-scribes/keset-ha-sofer/chapter-13 | language=he,en | quote=It is the custom to have no fewer than 48 lines, representing the journeys of Israel, and some say no fewer than 42, because of what God did in the Sinai wilderness at Kadesh. Also, we don’t have more than 60 lines, representing the 60 myriads of Israel who received the Torah.}}</ref> In the present day, 42 lines is the most common standard,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
| first1 = Joseph
| last1 = Jacobs
| first2 = Judah
| last2 = Eisenstein
| last3 = Executive Committee of the Editorial Board
| first4 = Ludwig
| last4 = Blau
| encyclopedia = Jewish Encyclopedia
| title = Scroll of the Law (Hebrew, "Sefer Torah")
| url = http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13358-scroll-of-the-law#1288
| access-date = 12 February 2020
| language = en
| year = 1906
| quote = "(At the present day the forty-two-lined column is the generally accepted style of the scroll, its length being about 24 inches.)"
}}</ref> but various traditions remain in use (see [[Sefer Torah]]).
**42 is the number with which God creates the Universe in [[Kabbalah|Kabbalistic tradition]]. In Kabbalah, the most significant name is that of the En Sof (also known as "[[Ein Sof]]", "Infinite" or "Endless"), who is above the Sefirot (sometimes spelled "[[Sephirot]]").<ref>{{cite web|url=http://physics.ucsc.edu/cosmo/primack_abrams/InABeginningTikkun1995.pdf|title=In A Beginning...Quantum Cosmology and Kabbalah|access-date=2008-03-14|author1=Joel Primack|author2=Nancy E. Abrams}}</ref> The Forty-Two-Lettered Name contains four combined names which are spelled in Hebrew letters (spelled in letters = 42 letters), which is the name of Azilut (or "[[Atziluth]]" "Emanation"). While there are obvious links between the Forty-Two Lettered Name of the Babylonian Talmud and the Kabbalah's Forty-Two Lettered Name, they are probably not identical because of the Kabbalah's emphasis on numbers. The Kabbalah also contains a Forty-Five Lettered Name and a Seventy-Two Lettered Name. 42 letters make the Ana beKo'ach prayer.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Prayer of the Kabbalist |url=https://onehouse.kabbalah.com/en/articles/the-prayer-of-the-kabbalist/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250918161307/https://onehouse.kabbalah.com/en/articles/the-prayer-of-the-kabbalist/ |archive-date=2025-09-18 |access-date=2025-10-10 |language=en}}</ref>

== Popular culture ==
=== ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' ===
[[File:Answer to Life.png|thumb|The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything]]
{{Main|Phrases from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy#The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is 42}}

The number 42 is, in ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (novel)|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' by [[Douglas Adams]], the "[[Phrases from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy#Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything (42)|Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything]]", calculated by [[Deep Thought (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)|an enormous supercomputer named Deep Thought]] over a period of 7.5 million years. Unfortunately, no one knows what the question is. Thus, to calculate the Ultimate Question, a special computer the size of a small planet was built from organic components and named "Earth". The Ultimate Question "What do you get when you multiply six by nine"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kasmana.people.cofc.edu/MATHFICT/mfview.php?callnumber=mf458|title=Mathematical Fiction: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979)|access-date=30 November 2016}} See this website for possible explanations of this seeming error.</ref> is found by Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect in the second book of the series, ''[[The Restaurant at the End of the Universe]]''. This appeared first in the [[radio play]] and later in the novelization of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''.

The fourth book in the series, {{H2G2|book|4|link=yes}}, contains 42 chapters.
According to {{H2G2|book|5|link=yes}}, 42 is the street address of Stavromula Beta.

In 1994, Adams created the ''[[42 Puzzle]]'', a game based on the number 42. Adams says he [[Phrases from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy#Reasoning|picked the number]] simply as a joke, with no deeper meaning.

[[Google Search|Google]] also has a calculator [[Google Easter Egg|easter egg]] when one searches "the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything." Once typed (all in lowercase), the calculator answers with the number 42.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 11, 2011 |title=17 amazing Google Easter eggs |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/17-amazing-google-easter-eggs/2/ |access-date=November 1, 2022 |website=CBS News}}</ref>

=== Jackie Robinson ===
[[File:Jrobinson.jpg|thumb|right|[[Jackie Robinson]] in his now-retired number 42 jersey]]
* The [[squad number|jersey number]] of [[Jackie Robinson]], which is the only number [[retired number|retired]] by all [[Major League Baseball]] teams. Although the number was retired in 1997, [[Mariano Rivera]] of the [[New York Yankees]], the last professional baseball player to wear number 42, continued to wear it until he retired at the end of the 2013 season. As of the 2014 season, no player ever again wore the number 42 in Major League Baseball except on [[Jackie Robinson Day]] (April 15), when ''all'' uniformed personnel (players, managers, coaches, and umpires) wear the number.

===Other===
In Japanese culture, the number 42 is considered unlucky because the numerals when pronounced separately—''shi ni'' (four two)—sound like the word "[[death|dying]]",<ref>Niiya, Brian. Japanese American history: an A-to-Z reference from 1868 to the present. Facts on File, Inc., 1993, p. 352</ref> like the Latin word "mori".

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Wiktionary|forty-two}}
{{commons category-inline}}
* {{cite web|last=Grime|first=James|title=42 and Douglas Adams|url=http://www.numberphile.com/videos/42.html|work=Numberphile|publisher=[[Brady Haran]]|author2=Gerardo Adesso|author3=Phil Moriarty|access-date=2013-04-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013132841/http://www.numberphile.com/videos/42.html|archive-date=2018-10-13|url-status=dead}}
* [http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/42.html My latest favorite Number: 42], [[John C. Baez]]
* [http://st-news.com/issues/st-news-volume-11-issues-1-2/features/the-significance/forty-two-in-real-life/ The number Forty-two in real life]
{{Integers|zero}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:42 (Number)}}
[[Category:Integers]]
[[Category:In-jokes]]
[[Category:The Beast (Revelation)]]

42 (number) - Revision history

imported>PCHS Pirate Alumnus: Reverted 1 edit by ~2025-34782-35 (talk) to last revision by Istiller