Forty-two is a pronic number and an abundant number; its prime factorization 2 · 3 · 7 makes it the second sphenic number and also the second of the form { 2 · 3 · r }. As with all sphenic numbers of this form, the aliquot sum is abundant by 12. 42 is also the second sphenic number to be bracketed by twin primes; 30 is also a pronic number and also rests between two primes. 42 has a 14 member aliquot sequence 42, 54, 66, 78, 90, 144, 259, 45, 33, 15, 9, 4, 3, 1, 0 and is itself part of the aliquot sequence commencing with the first sphenic number 30. Further, 42 is the 10th member of the 3-aliquot tree.
It is a Catalan number. Consequently; 42 is the number of noncrossing partitions of a set of five elements, the number of triangulations of a heptagon, the number of rooted ordered binary trees with six leaves, the number of ways in which five pairs of nested parentheses can be arranged, etc.
It is the number of partitions of 10 - the number of ways of expressing 10 as a sum of positive integers (note a different sense of partition from that above).
The 3 × 3 × 3 magic cube with rows summing to 42.
Given 27 same-size cubes whose nominal values progress from 1 to 27, a 3×3×3 magic cube can be constructed such that every row, column, and corridor, and every diagonal passing through the center, is composed of 3 cubes whose sum of values is 42.
It is conjectured to be the scaling factor in the leading order term of the "sixth moment of the Riemannzeta function". In particular, Conrey & Ghosh have conjectured that
42 is the only known value that is the number of sets of four distinct positive integers a,b,c,d, each less than the value itself, such that ab-cd, ac-bd, and ad-bc are each multiples of the value. Whether there are other values remains an open question.[3]
42 is the maximum of core points awarded in International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.
42 is the resulting number of the original Smith number (4937775): Both the sum of its digits (4+9+3+7+7+7+5) as the sum of the digits in its prime factorization (3+5+5+(6+5+8+3+7)) result in 42.
The angle rounded to whole degrees for which a rainbow appears (the critical angle).
In 1966, mathematician Paul Cooper theorized that the fastest, most efficient way to travel across continents would be to bore a straight hollow tube directly through the Earth, connecting a set of antipodes, remove the air from the tube and fall through.[7] The first half of the journey consists of free-fall acceleration, while the second half consists of an exactly equal deceleration. The time for such a journey works out to be 42 minutes. Even if the tube does not pass through the exact center of the Earth, the time for a journey powered entirely by gravity (known as a gravity train) always works out to be 42 minutes, so long as the tube remains friction-free, as while the force of gravity would be lessened, the distance traveled is reduced at an equal rate.[8][9] (The same idea was proposed, without calculation by Lewis Carroll in 1893 in Sylvie and Bruno Concluded.[10])
In the military IRIG 106 Chapter 10 data recording standard, the hex value 0x464F52545974776F (ASCII "FORTYtwo") is used as a magic number to identify directory blocks.
In January 2004, asteroid2001 DA42 was given the permanent name 25924 Douglasadams, for the author Douglas Adams who popularized the number 42 and died in 2001. Brian G. Marsden, the director of the Minor Planet Center and the secretary for the naming committee, remarked that, with even his initials in the provisional designation, "This was sort of made for him, wasn't it?"
Kepler-42, a red dwarf in the constellation Cygnus around which orbits the three smallest exoplanets found to date.
In Japanese culture, the number 42 is considered unlucky because the numerals when pronounced separately — "shi ni" (four two) — sound like the phrase, "unto death".[13]
There are 42 principles of Ma'at, the Ancient Egyptian personification of physical and moral law, order, and truth. In the judgment scene described in the Egyptian and the Book of the Coming/Going Forth by Day (the Book of the Dead (which evolved from the Coffin Texts and the Pyramid Texts)), there are 42 gods and goddesses of Egypt, personifying the principles of Ma'at. These 42 correspond to the 42 Nomes (Governmental Units) of Egypt. If the departed successfully answers all 42, s/he becomes an Osiris.
42 is the number with which God creates the Universe in 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").[14] 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.
The number 42 appears in various contexts in Christianity. There are 42 generations (names) in the Gospel of Matthew's version of the Genealogy of Jesus; it is prophesied that for 42 months the Beast will hold dominion over the Earth (Revelation 13:5); 42 men of Beth-azmaveth were counted in the census of men of Israel upon return from exile (Ezra 2:24); God sent bears to maul 42 of the teenage boys who mocked Elisha for his baldness (2 Kings 2:23), etc.
In Judaism, the number (in the Babylonian Talmud, compiled 375 AD to 499 AD) of the "Forty-Two Lettered Name" ascribed to God. Rab (or Rabhs), a 3rd-century source in the Talmud stated "The Forty-Two Lettered Name is entrusted only to him who is pious, meek, middle-aged, free from bad temper, sober, and not insistent on his rights". [Source: Talmud Kidduschin 71a, Translated by Rabbi Dr. I. Epstein]. Maimonides felt that the original Talmudic Forty-Two Lettered Name was perhaps composed of several combined divine names [Maimonides "Moreh"]. The apparently unpronouncable Tetragrammaton provides the backdrop from the Twelve-Lettered Name and the Forty-Two Lettered Name of the Talmud.[citation needed]
The Gutenberg Bible is also known as the "42-line Bible", as the book contained 42 lines per page.
The book 42: Douglas Adams' Amazingly Accurate Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything[15] examines Adams' choice of the number 42 and also contains a compendium of some instances of the number in science, popular culture, and humour.
Rule 42 of the Code in the preface[18] to The Hunting of the Snark ("No one shall speak to the Man at the Helm").
In "fit the first" of The Hunting of the Snark the Baker had "forty-two boxes, all carefully packed, With his name painted clearly on each."[19]
The White Queen announces her age as "one hundred and one, five months and a day", which - if the best possible date is assumed for the action of Through the Looking-Glass - gives a total of 37,044 days. With the further (textually unconfirmed) assumption that both Queens were born on the same day their combined age becomes 74,088 days, which is 42 x 42 x 42. Some commentators have asserted that this is deliberate on Carroll's part.[20]
A made for TV movie 42: Forty Two Up - an installment in a series of documentaries wherein the director revisits the same group of British-born individuals every 7 years.[21]
"42" is an episode of Doctor Who, set in real time lasting approximately 42 minutes.
In an episode of Stargate Atlantis the character John Sheppard reveals that the number is the ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything, to the confusion of his alien companion.
On the game show Jeopardy!, "Watson" the IBM supercomputer, has 42 "threads" in its avatar.[22]
On the Unusuals TV-show there's an episode called "42". Detective Leo Banks recently turned 42. On account of his father, uncle, and grandfather dropping dead at 42, Leo is convinced he'll share their fate. There were 42s all over the episode.
42 (film) is a film on the life of American baseball player Jackie Robinson.
I, Robot (film) 42 is the number of the first robot shown in the movie, a FedEx Delivery robot.
In Spore, reaching the center of the galaxy yields a powerful item known as the "Staff of Life" which has a limited 42 uses. It also grants the player an achievement titled "42".
In Fable II, the last in a series of ancient artifacts the player can find says "Now just think of the number 42."
In Left 4 Dead 2, 42 is the number of Moustachios that must be shot in the Dark Carnival campaign's Whack-a-Mole style mini-game in order to unlock the STACH WACKER achievement.
In Halo Wars there is a Spartan-II Commando called Douglas-042.
The jersey number of Jackie Robinson, which is the only 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 will ever again wear 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.
Popular gadget magazine Stuff did not produce an issue numbered 42, in honor of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, instead, the 41st issue was followed by the 43rd.
The designation within ISO/IEC JTC1/SC7 of its working group on Architecture was chosen to be "WG 42" because architecture is the answer to "Life, the Universe and Everything", skipping over designations 26 through 41.
Fictional comic book superhero Miles Morales is bitten by a genetically altered spider with a red 42 marked on its abdomen. Morales later assumes the role of Spider-Man as a result of the bite and following the death of Peter Parker in the Ultimate Marvel universe from Marvel Comics. Morales also wins a coveted spot in a prestigious charter school after his number (42) is chosen during a lottery.
In the Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet, Juliet takes a potion that makes her appear dead for 42 hours.
^CBC News staff, "Canadian math champ's skills add up to a perfect score" CBC News July 20, 2004. "A 16-year-old Canadian was one of four students who achieved a perfect score at an international mathematics competition. Jacob Tsimerman of Toronto scored 42 out of 42, making him one of 45 individual gold medallists at the 45th International Mathematical Olympiad in Athens."
^Cooper, Paul W. (1966). "Through the Earth in Forty Minutes". American Journal of Physics34 (1): 68–69. doi:10.1119/1.1972773.
^Carroll, Lewis (29 December 1893). "Chapter 7". Sylvie and Bruno Concluded2. illustrated by Harry Furniss. United Kingdom: Macmillan and Co. "Each railway is in a long tunnel, perfectly straight: so of course the middle of it is nearer the centre of the globe than the two ends: so every train runs half-way down-hill, and that gives it force enough to run the other half up-hill."
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