15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 and preceding 16. In English, it is the smallest natural number with seven letters in its spelled name.
In speech, the numbers 15 and 50 are often confused. When carefully enunciated, they differ in which syllable is stressed: 15 /fɪfˈtiːn/ vs 50 /ˈfɪfti/. However, in dates such as 1500 ("fifteen hundred") or when contrasting numbers in the teens, the stress generally shifts to the first syllable: 15 /ˈfɪftiːn/.
[edit] In mathematics
Fifteen is a triangular number and a hexagonal number, a pentatope number, and the 4th Bell number. Fifteen is the double factorial of 5. It is a composite number; its proper divisors being 1, 3 and 5. With only two exceptions, all prime quadruplets enclose a multiple of 15, with 15 itself being enclosed by the quadruplet (11, 13, 17, 19). 15 is also the number of supersingular primes.
15 is the 4th discrete biprime (3.5) and the first member of the (3.q) discrete biprime family. The number proceeding 15; 14 is itself a discrete biprime and this is the first such pair of discrete biprimes. The next example is the pair commencing 21.
The aliquot sum of 15 is 9, a square prime 15 has an aliquot sequence of 6 members (15,9,4,3,1,0). 15 is the fourth composite number in the 3-aliquot tree. The abundant 12 is also a member of this tree. Fifteen is the aliquot sum of the consecutive 4-power 16, and the discrete biprime 33.
15 and 16 form a Ruth-Aaron pair under the second definition in which repeated prime factors are counted as often as they occur.
Fifteen is the magic constant of the unique order-3 normal magic square:
15 is the smallest number that can be factorized using Shor's quantum algorithm.
There are 15 solutions to Znám's problem of length 7.
15 is a repdigit in binary (1111). In hexadecimal, as well as all higher bases, fifteen is represented as F.
[edit] In science
[edit] In religion
[edit] In Sports
- In tennis, the number 15 represents the first point gained in a game.
- In Rugby Union the full back wears the number 15, it is also the number of players on the field.
- Nick Solchany is number 15, see also Cassidy Berday.
[edit] The age 15
Age 15 is:
- The age of a quinceañera, a Hispanic girl celebrating her fifteenth birthday. Thus, Spanish bingo callers might refer to the number 15 as la niña bonita (the beautiful girl).
- The age for obtaining a driver's (or learner's) permit in certain jurisdictions, including some where the age for a driver's license is sixteen.
- In the UK a minor can be sent to prison to await trial at the age of 15.
- In most cultures 15 is when adulthood officially begins, from this age onwards (till 18 due to legal rights, or as a general marker into ones mid to late twenties, and sometimes early 30s.) they are called young adults.
- In Sweden it's the legal age for sexual intercourse.
- In the UK it is the legal age to watch a BBFC "15" rated film in a cinema or purchase a "15" rated film or video game.
[edit] In other fields
Fifteen is:
- The number 15 is a major theme for the Marilyn Manson album Mechanical Animals, which refers to the number numerous times.
- 15 is also a song on the Marilyn Manson album The High End of Low .
- The number of days in each of the 24 cycles of the Chinese calendar.
- The number of guns in a gun salute to Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force Lieutenant Generals, and Navy and Coast Guard Vice Admirals.
- The designation of Interstate 15, a freeway that runs from California to Montana.
- The designation of U.S. Route 15, a highway that runs from South Carolina to New York.
- The '15 refers to the first Jacobite Rising in Great Britain in 1715.
- The number of checkers each side has in the beginning of a backgammon game.
- The 15 puzzle.
- Fifteen, a television program.
- A restaurant in London, built by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver
- In the United States, the customary percentage to tip a waitress in a restaurant by one or two guests
- 15 minutes of fame
- The 15th is a Wire song
- The number of balls in the eight ball variant of billiards
- The number of function keys on most Mac keyboards
- The name of a modern punk band, Fifteen
- The number of letters in the words "uncopyrightable", "dermatoglyphics", "misconjugatedly", and "hydropneumatics", which are the longest words there are without repeating a letter.
- 15 is one of The Numbers - 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42 - featured in Lost.
- The number of completed, numbered symphonies and string quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich
- A film rating and age limit on viewing given by the British Board of Film Classification
- The number to dial for SAMU in case of an emergency in France.
- The number of minutes in one quarter of an hour; 15 minutes past or before an hour is often known as quarter past and quarter to, respectively.
- Fifteen men on the dead man's chest is the first verse of the chorus of a fictional sea shanty from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island (1883),
- 15 Step is the opening song on the Radiohead album, In Rainbows.
- In casual conversation, an arbitrary number used to refer to a large quantity of things. Often prefixed with "like". Greg Oden - 15 titles, Katharine McPhee - 15 babies, 15 Terminators
- The number of the French department Cantal
- Fifteen (song) is a song on Taylor Swift's 2008 album Fearless
- 15 is a song on Rilo Kiley's 2007 album Under the Blacklight
- The number corresponding to The Devil in tarot cards.
- Fifteen is the title of a 1956 novel by Beverly Cleary.
[edit] Historical years
15 A.D., 15 B.C., 1915, 2015,
[edit] References
- Wells, D. The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers London: Penguin Group. (1987): 91 - 93