Previous Prime Number

No mathematical formula allow to automatically calculate the prime number preceding any number N (less than N). dCode performs primality tests on numbers below the requested number until a prime number is found.

Example: The largest prime number that precedes 100 is 97

Example: The 10th prime number preceding 1000 is 937 (so there is a list of 9 prime numbers between 938 and 999 included)

The number $ N $ must be a positive real number.

The largest number with $ n $ digits is $ 10^n -1 $ (that is always a multiple of 9), so the largest prime number with $ n $ digits is the prime number that precedes $ 10^n-1 $.

Example: The largest 4-digit number is $ 10^4 -1 = 10000-1 = 9999 $ so the largest prime number with $ n $ digits is the prime number preceding $ 10000 $ that is $ 9973 $.

The first 20 prime numbers in this list are: 7 (largest 1 digit prime), 97 (largest 2-digit prime), 997 (largest 3-digit prime), 9973, 99991, 999983, 9999991, 99999989, 999999937, 9999999967, 99999999977, 999999999989, 9999999999971, 99999999999973, 999999999999989, 9999999999999937, 99999999999999997, 999999999999999989, 9999999999999999961, 99999999999999999989 etc.

A prime number and the previous prime number are twins primes when their difference equals 2.

Example: 11 and 13 are called twins primes as 13-11 = 2.