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PrintSouth African Mathematics Olympiad First Round
South Africa number theory
Problem
If the difference between two prime numbers is also prime, what is the smallest value of the sum of those two primes? (A) 9 (B) 7 (C) 6 (D) 4 (E) 3
Solution
Looking at the difference of successive pairs of small primes, we note that which is not prime, and , and then larger numbers differing by (or more). So the smallest sum comes from .
Final answer
B
Techniques
Prime numbers