3 (three) is a number, numeral, and glyph.

It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and

is the smallest odd prime number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societies.

Contents

 1Evolution of the glyph

o 1.1Flat-topped 3
 2Mathematics
o 2.1Numeral systems
o 2.2List of basic calculations
 3Science
o 3.1Protoscience
o 3.2Pseudoscience
 4Philosophy
 5Religion
o 5.1Christianity
o 5.2Judaism
o 5.3Buddhism
o 5.4Shinto
o 5.5Daoism
o 5.6Hinduism
o 5.7Zoroastrianism
o 5.8Norse mythology
o 5.9Other religions
o 5.10Esoteric tradition
o 5.11As a lucky or unlucky number
 6Sports
 7Film
 8See also
 9References
 10External links

Evolution of the glyph

The use of three lines to denote the number 3 is only natural[clarification needed] and occurred in many writing
systems, including some (like Roman and Chinese numerals) that are still in use.
In particular, that was also the original representation of 3 in the Brahmin Indians' numerical notation.
However, during the Gupta Empire the sign was modified by the addition of a curve on each line.
The Nagari rotated the lines clockwise[clarification needed], ended each line with a short downward stroke on
the right. In cursive, script the three strokes were eventually connected to form a glyph resembling
"3" with an additional stroke at the bottom as "३".
The Hindu[clarification needed] numerals spread to the Caliphate in the 9th century. The bottom stroke was
dropped around the 10th century in the western parts of the Caliphate, such as the Maghreb and Al-
Andalus, when a distinct variant ("Western Arabic") of the digit symbols developed, including modern
Western 3. In contrast, the Eastern Arabs retained and enlarged that stroke, rotating the character
once more to yield the modern ("Eastern") Arabic digit "٣".[1]
In most modern Western typefaces, the "3" glyph, like the other decimal digits, has the height of
a capital letter, and sits on the baseline. In typefaces with text figures, on the other hand, the glyph
usually has the height of a lowercase letter "x" and a descender: " ". In some French text-figure
typefaces, though, it has an ascender instead of a descender.[citation needed]

Flat-topped 3
A common variant of the digit three has a flat top, similar to the character Ʒ (ezh). This form is
sometimes used to prevent people from fraudulently changing a three into an eight. It is usually
found on UPC-A barcodes and standard 52-card decks.

Mathematics
3 is:

 a rough approximation of π (3.1415...) and a very rough approximation of e (2.71828..) when

doing quick estimates.
 the number of non-collinear points needed to determine a plane and a circle.
 the first odd prime number and the second smallest prime.
 the first Fermat prime (22  + 1).
n

 the first Mersenne prime (2n − 1).

 the second Sophie Germain prime.
 the second Mersenne prime exponent.
 the second factorial prime (2! + 1).
 the second Lucas prime.
 the second triangular number. It is the only prime triangular number.
 the fourth Fibonacci number.
 the smallest number of sides that a simple (non-self-intersecting) polygon can have.
Three is the only prime which is one less than a perfect square. Any other number which is n2 − 1 for
some integer n is not prime, since it is (n − 1)(n + 1). This is true for 3 as well (with n = 2), but in this
case the smaller factor is 1. If n is greater than 2, both n − 1 and n + 1 are greater than 1 so their
product is not prime.
A natural number is divisible by three if the sum of its digits in base 10 is divisible by 3. For example,
the number 21 is divisible by three (3 times 7) and the sum of its digits is 2 + 1 = 3. Because of this,
the reverse of any number that is divisible by three (or indeed, any permutation of its digits) is also
divisible by three. For instance, 1368 and its reverse 8631 are both divisible by three (and so are
1386, 3168, 3186, 3618, etc.). See also Divisibility rule. This works in base 10 and in any positional
numeral system whose base divided by three leaves a remainder of one (bases 4, 7, 10, etc.).
Three of the five Platonic solids have triangular faces – the tetrahedron, the octahedron, and
the icosahedron. Also, three of the five Platonic solids have vertices where three faces meet –
the tetrahedron, the hexahedron (cube), and the dodecahedron. Furthermore, only three different
types of polygons comprise the faces of the five Platonic solids – the triangle, the square, and
the pentagon.
There are only three distinct 4×4 panmagic squares.
According to Pythagoras and the Pythagorean school, the number 3, which they called triad, is the
noblest of all digits, as it is the only number to equal the sum of all the terms below it, and the only
number whose sum with those below equals the product of them and itself.[2]
The trisection of the angle was one of the three famous problems of antiquity.
Gauss proved that every integer is the sum of at most 3 triangular numbers.

Numeral systems
There is some evidence to suggest that early man may have used counting systems which consisted
of "One, Two, Three" and thereafter "Many" to describe counting limits. Early peoples had a word to
describe the quantities of one, two, and three but any quantity beyond was simply denoted as
"Many". This is most likely based on the prevalence of this phenomenon among people in such
disparate regions as the deep Amazon and Borneo jungles, where western civilization's explorers
have historical records of their first encounters with these indigenous people.[3]

List of basic calculations

1
Multi 1 10
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 5 0
plicat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 00
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 0 0
ion 0 0
0

3
1 3 30
1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 7 7 0
3 × x 3 6 9 5 0 00
2 5 8 1 4 7 0 3 6 9 2 5 8 1 4 7 0 3 6 9 2 5 0
0 0 0
0

Di
vis 1 1 1 1 1 2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 13 14 16 17 19
io 0 1 2 5 8 0
n

0 0.4 0. 0 0 0.2 0 0
1 0 0 0 0 0.2 0 0. 0.17647 0.15789
3 . 28 3 . . 30 . .
3 . 1 . . . . 142 . 18 0588235 4736842
÷ x 7 57 7 2 2 76 1 1
5 6 5 3 3 857 2 75 29411 105263
5 1 5 7 5 9 6 5

0 0 1 1 3 3 6
x ÷ 2. 5.
. . 1 . . 2 2.3 3 . . 4 4.3 4.6 5 5.6 6 6.3 .
3 6 3
3 6 3 6 3 6 6

Expo
1
nenti 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
0
ation

3x 3 9 2 8 2 7 2 6 1 5 17 53 15 47 14 43 129 387 116 348

7 1 4 2 1 5 9 9 71 14 94 82 34 04 140 420 226 678
3 9 8 6 6 0 47 41 32 96 89 67 163 489 146 440
7 1 8 4
 3 9 3 9 07 21 7 1

1
1 2 3 5 7
2 6 0 13 17 21 27 33 40 491 583 685 800
x3 1 8 2 1 4 1 2
7 4 0 31 28 97 44 75 96 3 2 9 0
5 6 3 2 9
0

Science
 The Roman numeral III stands for giant star in the Yerkes spectral classification scheme.
 Three is the atomic number of lithium.
 Three is the ASCII code of "End of Text".
 Three is the number of dimensions that humans can perceive. Humans perceive
the universe to have three spatial dimensions, but some theories, such as string theory, suggest
there are more.
 The triangle, a polygon with three edges and three vertices, is the most stable physical
shape. For this reason it is widely utilized in construction, engineering and design.[4]
 The ability of the human eye to distinguish colors is based upon the varying sensitivity of
different cells in the retina to light of different wavelengths. Humans being trichromatic, the retina
contains three types of color receptor cells, or cones.
Protoscience

 In European alchemy, the three primes (Latin: tria prima) were salt ( ), sulfur ( )

and mercury ( ).[5][6]
 The three doshas (weaknesses) and their antidotes are the basis of Ayurvedic medicine in
India.
Pseudoscience
 Three is the symbolic representation for Mu, Augustus Le Plongeon's and James
Churchward's lost continent.[7]

Philosophy
Main article: Trichotomy (philosophy)

 Philosophers such as Aquinas, Kant, Hegel, C. S. Peirce, and Karl Popper have made

threefold divisions, or trichotomies, which have been important in their work.
 Hegel's dialectic of Thesis + Antithesis = Synthesis creates three-ness from two-ness.

Religion
See also: Triple deity
Many world religions contain triple deities or concepts of trinity, including:
 the Hindu Trimurti
 the Hindu Tridevi
 the Three Jewels of Buddhism
 the Three Pure Ones of Taoism
 the Christian Holy Trinity
 the Triple Goddess of Wicca

The Shield of the Trinity is a diagram of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity

Christianity
 The threefold office of Christ is a Christian doctrine that Christ performs the functions
of prophet, priest, and king.
 The ministry of Jesus lasted approximately three years[8]
 During the Agony in the Garden, Christ asked three times for the chalice to be taken from his
lips.
 Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his death.
 The devil tempted Jesus three times.
 Saint Peter thrice denied Jesus and thrice affirmed his faith in Jesus
 The Magi – wise men who were astronomers/astrologers from Persia[citation needed] – gave Jesus
three gifts.[9][10]
 There are three Synoptic Gospels and three epistles of John.
 Paul the Apostle went blind for three days after his conversion to Christianity.
Judaism
 Noah had three sons: Ham, Shem and Japheth
 The Three Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
 The prophet Balaam beat his donkey three times.
 The prophet Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of a large fish
 Three divisions of the Written Torah: Torah (Five Book of
Moses), Nevi'im (Prophets), Ketuvim (Writings)[11]
 Three divisions of the Jewish people: Kohen, Levite, Yisrael
 Three daily prayers: Shacharit, Mincha, Maariv
 Three Shabbat meals
 Shabbat ends when three stars are visible in the night sky[12]
 Three Pilgrimage Festivals: Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot
 Three matzos on the Passover Seder table[13]
 The Three Weeks, a period of mourning bridging the fast days of Seventeenth of
Tammuz and Tisha B'Av
 Three cardinal sins for which a Jew must die rather than transgress: idolatry, murder, sexual
immorality[14]
 Upsherin, a Jewish boy's first haircut at age 3[15]
 A Beth din is composed of three members
 Potential converts are traditionally turned away three times to test their sincerity[16]
 In the Jewish mystical tradition of the Kabbalah, it is believed that the soul consists of three
parts, with the highest being neshamah ("breath"), the middle being ruach ("wind" or "spirit") and
the lowest being nefesh ("repose").[17] Sometimes the two elements of Chayah ("life" or "animal")
and Yechidah ("unit") are additionally mentioned.
 In the Kabbalah, the Tree of Life (Hebrew: Etz ha-Chayim, ‫ )עץ החיים‬refers to a latter 3-pillar
diagrammatic representation of its central mystical symbol, known as the 10 Sephirot.
Buddhism