Fibonacci, Euler, Bell, and Lucas. Why do they get to have numbers or number sequences named after them? Well, because they came up with some crazy way of defining those number or number sequences. Now, I certainly don’t consider myself as great a mathematician as any of these fine gentlemen, but I do want some kind of number named after me. So, here is how I will do it.
I like food. Sometimes I like to use a microwave to cook or reheat my food. Now, most fine chefs will balk at that, but I, as an engineer, don’t. I can create a thermal profile using a microwave that will cook or reheat food just fine. The trick is to know a little bit about heat transfer and how thermal profiles work. You can’t just stick the food in the box, set the microwave to high and run it for minute. You need to use the power settings and be thoughtful about how much time you run at each power setting. A good thermal profile could heat the food on high for several seconds to get it hot, but then drop down to a 60% or 70% power for a prolonged time to “soak” the food, then drop down to a lower power to keep it warm until you are ready to take it out and eat it.
Now then, I have this little quirk. I like to use prime numbers for the number of seconds I have the microwave at each power setting. For example, a typical profile for melting cheese onto chips is something like this: 7 seconds on 100%, 17 seconds on 60%, 23 seconds on 20%. The problem is that once you add up the three primes, you may end up with a total time that is not a prime. Unacceptable. (Or OCD, you choose.)
So, I have decided to define a new type of number set which I conveniently call Schneider Prime Sets. A Schneider Prime Set is a set of three prime numbers whose sum is also a prime number. Now I can use those Schneider Prime Sets to appropriately cook in my microwave. Even better are Unique Schneider Prime Sets, a set where each number in the set is unique.
Note that a set is not order dependent. You can mix the numbers up in any order and it is still a Schneider Prime Set. In other words, (5,13,19) is equivalent to (13,5,19). Out of convenience my lists order the numbers ascending within the set.
A few Schneider Prime Sets which are good for microwaving:
| Schneider Prime Set |
Sum |
| (5,13,19) | 37 |
| (7,11,23) | 41 |
| (13,17,29) | 59 |
| (13,23,23) | 59 |
| (17,19,23) | 59 |
| (13,23,31) | 67 |
| (17,19,31) | 67 |
| (23,29,37) | 89 |
| (29,29,31) | 89 |
| (19,29,53) | 101 |
| (19,41,41) | 101 |
| (29,31,43) | 103 |
| (41,43,43) | 127 |
| (23,31,103) | 157 |
| (43,47,167) | 257 |
| (47,61,149) | 257 |
| (11,79,173) | 263 |
| (31,41,191) | 263 |
| (41,61,167) | 269 |
| (47,103,157) | 307 |
For a list of just over a thousand Schneider Prime Sets, click here (text file, 1.12 MB).
