8 (number)

Encyclopedia : 8 : 8N : 8NU : 8 (number)


Cardinal	8 eight
Ordinal	8th eighth
Numeral system	octal
Factorization	[ 2^3 ]
Divisors	1, 2, 4, 8
Roman numeral	VIII
Unicode representation of Roman numeral	Ⅷ, ⅷ
prefixes	[[Wiktionary:octa->octa-]]/[[Wiktionary:oct-\|oct-]] (from Greek) [[Wiktionary:octo-\|octo-]]/[[Wiktionary:oct-\|oct-]] (from Latin)
Binary	1000
Octal	10
Duodecimal	8
Hexadecimal	8
Hebrew	ח (Het)

8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. The SI prefix for 1000⁸ is yotta (Y), and for its reciprocal yocto (y).

Contents

1 In mathematics
2 The Arabic glyph
3 In science

3.1 Astronomy

4 In religion
5 As a lucky or unlucky number
6 In music
7 In sports
8 In technology
9 In measurement
10 In other fields
11 Historical years
12 Reference

In mathematics

It is a composite number, its proper divisors being 1, 2, and 4. Eight is a power of two, being 2³, or two cubed.

8 is the base of the octal number system, which is mostly used with computers. In octal, one digit represents 3 bits. In modern computers, a byte is a grouping of eight bits, also called an octet.

The number 8 is a Fibonacci number, being 3 plus 5. The next Fibonacci number is 13.

In binary code eight is 1000; in ternary code eight is 22; in quaternary numeral system code eight is 20; in quinary eight is 13; in senary eight is 12; in septenary eight is 11; in octal eight is 10; in novenary code and all codes above (such as decimal and hexadecimal) eight is 8. In Roman numerals eight is VIII.

A polygon with eight sides is an octagon. Figurate numbers representing octagons (including eight) are called octagonal numbers. A polyhedron with eight faces is an octahedron.

Sphenic numbers always have exactly eight divisors.

8 is the dimension of the octonions and is the highest possible dimension of a normed division algebra.

The number 8 is involved with a number of interesting mathematical phenomena related to the notion of Bott periodicity. For example if [O(\infty)] is the direct limit of the inclusions of real orthogonal groups [O(1)\hookrightarrow O(2)\hookrightarrow\ldots\hookrightarrow O(k)\hookrightarrow\ldots] then [\pi_(O(\infty))\cong\pi_(O(\infty))]. Clifford algebras also display a periodicity of 8. For example the algebra [Cl(p+8,q)] is isomorphic to the algebra of 16 by 16 matrices with entries in [Cl(p,q)]. We also see a period of 8 in the K theory of spheres and in the representation theory of the rotation groups, the latter giving rise to the 8 by 8 spinorial chessboard. All of these properties are closely related to the properties of the octonions.

The lowest dimensional even unimodular lattice is the 8-dimensional E₈ lattice. Even positive definite unimodular lattice exist only in dimensions divisible by 8.

The Arabic glyph

In the beginning, various groups in India wrote eight more or less in one stroke as a curve that looks like an uppercase H with the bottom half of the left line and the upper half of the right line removed. At one point this glyph came close to looking like our modern five. With the western Ghubar Arabs, the similarity of the glyph to five was banished by connecting the beginning and the end of stroke together, and it was only a matter of the Europeans rounding the glyph that led to our modern eight.

In fonts with text figures, eight usually has an ascender, for example, .

In science

The atomic number of oxygen.
The number of allotropes of carbon.
In physics, the second magic number.
In particle physics, the eightfold way is used to classify sub-atomic particles.

Astronomy

Messier object M8, a magnitude 5.0 nebula in the constellation Sagittarius.

The New General Catalogue [object] NGC 8, a double star in the constellation Pegasus

The Saros [number] of the solar eclipse series which began on 2579 BCE March 7 and ended on 1281 BCE April 26. The duration of Saros series 8 was 1298.1 years, and it contained 73 solar eclipses.

The Saros [number] of the lunar eclipse series which began on 2512 BCE July 27 and ended on 961 BCE February 13. The duration of Saros series 7 was 1550.6 years, and it contained 87 lunar eclipses.

In religion

The Jewish religious rite of brit milah is held on a baby boy's eighth day of life
Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish holiday that starts on the 25th day of Kislev
Shemini Atzeret (Hebrew: "Eighth Day of Assembly") is a one-day Jewish holiday immediately following the seven-day holiday of Sukkot
The Noble Eightfold Path in the Buddhist faith has eight steps
The Eight Immortals are Chinese deities
Mormons believe that humans are responsible for their actions by the age of 8. Before that age, children are not able to sin and are therefore exempt from judgment for their actions. Mormons believe that if a person dies before the age of 8, he or she will automatically inherit the Celestial Kingdom
The Dharmacakra, a Buddhist symbol, has eight spokes
In Scientology, there are 8 dynamics of life. The eighth dynamic represents the Infinity, or God

As a lucky or unlucky number

Eight (八, formal writing 捌, pinyin bā) is considered a lucky number in Chinese culture because it sounds like the word "prosper" or "wealth" (發 Pinyin: fā)
In numerology, 8 is the number of building, and in some theories, also the number of destruction

In music

A note played for one-eighth the duration of a whole note is called an eighth note, or quaver
An octave, the interval between two notes with the same letter name (where one has double the frequency of the other), is so called because there are eight notes on a western scale between the two, including the notes themselves
There are eight musicians in an octet
There are 88 keys on a piano
Songs with the number eight in their title include the Byrds's Eight Miles High and the Beatles' Eight Days a Week
Dream Theater's eighth album Octavarium contains many different references to the number 8, including the number of songs and various aspects of the music and cover artwork

In sports

In chess, each side has eight pawns; see also Eight queens puzzle
In rugby union the number eight central back row position wears the 8 shirt
In the Nextel Cup series, 8 is Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car number
In baseball, eight represents the center fielder's position
Eight ball billiards is played with 15 balls; the black ball numbered 8 being the most important one. Magic 8 Ball is a randomized process of predicting the future or answering various questions, packaged to resemble this ball and often sold as a fortune-telling device
The retired numbers of former baseball players Yogi Berra, Willie Stargell, Carl Yastrzemski, Joe Morgan, Gary Carter, and Cal Ripken, Jr.
The number of Russian hockey player and current member of the NHL's Washington Capitals, Alexander Ovechkin
In Rowing an eight refers to a sweep oar boat with eight rowers plus a coxswain.
The shirt number of Steven Gerrard who plays for Liverpool FC

In technology

Many (mostly historic) computer architectures are eight-bit, among them the Nintendo Entertainment System
On most phones, the 8 key is associated with the letters T, U, and V, but on the BlackBerry it is the key for B and N
There are eight bits in a byte

In measurement

In liquid measurement (U.S. customary units), there are 8 fluid ounces in a cup, 8 pints in a gallon, and 8 tablespoons in a gill
There are 8 furlongs in a mile
In cooking recipies, there are approximately 8 pinches to a teaspoon

In other fields

Eight babies delivered in one birth are called octuplets. The first set of eight surviving babies, the Louis-Chukwu Octuplets, were born in 1998
An Eighth is a common measurment of high grade marijuana, meaning an eighth of an ounce
All spiders, and more generally all arachnids, have eight legs. An octopus has eight tentacles
Timothy Leary identified a hierarchy of eight levels of consciousness
October was the eighth month in the Roman calendar; currently August is the eighth month

The number 8

In Astrology, Scorpio is the 8th astrological sign of the Zodiac
In Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, eight is a holy number and is considered taboo. Eight is not safe to be said by wizards on the Discworld and is the number of Bel-Shamharoth. Also, there are eight days in a Disc week and eight colours in a Disc spectrum, the eighth one being Octarine
Referring to the shape of the numeral, eight was represented in bingo slang, before political correctness, as "One Fat Lady". Eighty-eight was "Two Fat Ladies"
"Eight maids a-milking" is the gift on the eighth day of Christmas in the "Twelve Days of Christmas" carol
I-8 is the designation of the US interstate highway that runs from San Diego, California to Casa Grande, Arizona
Eight is the number of categories the VALS system uses to classify consumer groups, and the number of categories used by Fallon-McElligott's system for teen marketing
There is a brand of chocolates filled with peppermint-flavoured cream called "After Eight", referring to the time 8 p.m.
There are eight vegetables in V8 juice
The ordinal adjective is octonary
Using hyperbole, the Beatles sang about loving their addressee "Eight Days a Week". Also from music is the 8-track cartridge
The numeral "8" is sometimes used in writing to represent the syllable "ate", as in writing "H8" for "hate", or "congratul8ons" for "congratulations". Avril Lavigne's song "Sk8er Boi" uses this convention in the title. Often found on vanity plates
War of the Eight Princes
"88" is the abbreviated terminology used by the Aryan Brotherhood for the Nazi salute, "Heil Hitler"—"H" being the eighth letter of the alphabet, repeated twice
The silver piece of eight was coined in the Spanish Empire and moved trade around the world
The symbol for infinity looks like a fallen eight
A figure 8 is the common name of a geometric shape, often used in the context of sports, such as skating
There are Eight Principles of Yong
Lewis Carroll's poem The Hunting of the Snark has 8 "fits" (cantos), which is noted in the full name "The Hunting of the Snark - An Agony, in Eight Fits
"Section 8" is common U.S. slang for "crazy", based on the U.S. military's Section 8 discharge for mentally unfit personnel
8 apparitions appear to Macbeth in Act 4 scene 1 of Shakespeare's Macbeth as representations of the 8 descendants of Banquo who will be king
8 is one of the "Lost Numbers" on the television show, Lost, along with 4, 15, 16, 23, and 42
In tarot, card No. 8 is "Strength"

Historical years

8 A.D., 8 B.C., 1908, 2008, etc.

Reference

[The Octonions] John C Baez

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