12 (number)

12 (twelve) is the natural number following 11 and preceding 13. The product of the first 3 factorials, twelve is a superior highly composite number, divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6.

This article is about the number. For the year, see AD 12. For other uses of "twelve", see 12 (disambiguation).
← 11 12 13 →
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Cardinaltwelve
Ordinal12th
(twelfth)
Numeral systemduodecimal
Factorization22 × 3
Divisors1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12
Greek numeralΙΒ´
Roman numeralXII
Greek prefixdodeca-
Latin prefixduodeca-
Binary11002
Ternary1103
Octal148
Duodecimal1012
HexadecimalC16


φ(12) = 4 τ(12) = 6
σ(12) = 28 π(12) = 5
μ(12) = 0 M(12) = -2

It is approximately the number of full lunations of the moon in a year, and the number of years for a full cycle of Jupiter, which was historically considered the brightest "wandering star". It is central to many systems of timekeeping, including the Western calendar and units of time of day, and frequently appears in the world's major religions.

Name

Twelve is the largest number with a single-syllable name in English. Early Germanic numbers have been theorized to have been non-decimal: evidence includes the unusual phrasing of eleven and twelve, the former use of "hundred" to refer to groups of 120, and the presence of glosses such as "tentywise" or "ten-count" in medieval texts showing that writers could not presume their readers would normally understand them that way.[1][2][3] Such uses gradually disappeared with the introduction of Arabic numerals during the 12th-century Renaissance.

Derived from Old English, twelf and tuelf are first attested in the 10th-century Lindisfarne Gospels' Book of John.[note 1][5] It has cognates in every Germanic language (e.g. German zwölf), whose Proto-Germanic ancestor has been reconstructed as *twaliƀi..., from *twa ("two") and suffix *-lif- or *-liƀ- of uncertain meaning.[5] It is sometimes compared with the Lithuanian dvýlika, although -lika is used as the suffix for all numbers from 11 to 19 (analogous to "-teen").[5] Every other Indo-European language instead uses a form of "two"+"ten", such as the Latin duōdecim.[5] The usual ordinal form is "twelfth" but "dozenth" or "duodecimal" (from the Latin word) is also used in some contexts, particularly base-12 numeration. Similarly, a group of twelve things is usually a "dozen" but may also be referred to as a "dodecad" or "duodecad". The adjective referring to a group of twelve is "duodecuple".

As with eleven,[6] the earliest forms of twelve are often considered to be connected with Proto-Germanic *liƀan or *liƀan ("to leave"), with the implicit meaning that "two is left" after having already counted to ten.[5] The Lithuanian suffix is also considered to share a similar development.[5] The suffix *-lif- has also been connected with reconstructions of the Proto-Germanic for ten.[6][7]

While, as mentioned above, 12 has its own name in Germanic languages such as English, German, and Swedish, it is a compound number in many other languages, e.g. Italian dodici (but in Spanish and Portuguese, 16, and in French, 17 is the first compound number), Japanese 十二 jūni.

Written representation

In prose writing, twelve, being the last single-syllable numeral, is sometimes taken as the last number to be written as a word, and 13 the first to be written using digits. This is not a binding rule, and in English language tradition, it is sometimes recommended to spell out numbers up to and including either nine, ten or twelve, or even ninety-nine or one hundred. Another system spells out all numbers written in one or two words (sixteen, twenty-seven, fifteen thousand, but 372 or 15,001).[8] In German orthography, there used to be the widely followed (but unofficial) rule of spelling out numbers up to twelve (zwölf). The Duden (the German standard dictionary) mentions this rule as outdated.

Mathematical properties

Twelve is a composite number, the smallest number with exactly six divisors, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12. Twelve is also a highly composite number, the next one being twenty-four.[9]

Twelve is the smallest abundant number, since it is the smallest integer for which the sum of its proper divisors (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 6 = 16) is greater than itself. Twelve is a sublime number, a number that has a perfect number of divisors, and the sum of its divisors is also a perfect number.[10] Since there is a subset of 12's proper divisors that add up to 12 (all of them but with 4 excluded), 12 is a semiperfect number.[11]

If an odd perfect number is of the form 12k + 1, it has at least twelve distinct prime factors.

A twelve-sided polygon is a dodecagon. A twelve-faced polyhedron is a dodecahedron. Regular cubes and octahedrons both have 12 edges, while regular icosahedrons have 12 vertices. Twelve is a pentagonal number. The densest three-dimensional lattice sphere packing has each sphere touching 12 others, and this is almost certainly true for any arrangement of spheres (the Kepler conjecture). Twelve is also the kissing number in three dimensions.

Twelve is the smallest weight for which a cusp form exists. This cusp form is the discriminant Δ(q) whose Fourier coefficients are given by the Ramanujan τ-function and which is (up to a constant multiplier) the 24th power of the Dedekind eta function. This fact is related to a constellation of interesting appearances of the number twelve in mathematics ranging from the value of the Riemann zeta function at −1 i.e. ζ(−1) = −1/12, the fact that the abelianization of SL(2,Z) has twelve elements, and even the properties of lattice polygons.

There are twelve Jacobian elliptic functions and twelve cubic distance-transitive graphs.

There are 12 Latin squares of size 3 × 3.

The duodecimal system (1210 [twelve] = 1012), which is the use of 12 as a division factor for many ancient and medieval weights and measures, including hours, probably originates from Mesopotamia.

In base thirteen and higher bases (such as hexadecimal), twelve is represented as C. In base 10, the number 12 is a Harshad number.

List of basic calculations
Multiplication 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 50 100 1000
12 × x 12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96 108 120 132 144 156 168 180 192 204 216 228 240 252 264 276 288 300 600 1200 12000
Division 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
12 ÷ x 12 6 4 3 2.4 2 1.714285 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.09 1 0.923076 0.857142 0.8 0.75
x ÷ 12 0.083 0.16 0.25 0.3 0.416 0.5 0.583 0.6 0.75 0.83 0.916 1 1.083 1.16 1.25 1.3
Exponentiation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
12x 12 144 1728 20736 248832 2985984 35831808 429981696 5159780352 61917364224 743008370688 8916100448256 106993205379072
x12 1 4096 531441 16777216 244140625 2176782336 13841287201 68719476736 282429536481 1000000000000 3138428376721 8916100448256 23298085122481

In nature

Notably, twelve is the number of full lunations in a solar year, and the number of years for a full cycle of Jupiter (the brightest of the ancient "wandering stars"), hence the number of months in a solar calendar, as well as the number of signs in the Western and the Chinese zodiac.

Religion

The number twelve carries religious, mythological and magical symbolism, generally representing perfection, entirety, or cosmic order in traditions since antiquity.[12]

Ancient Greek religion
  • The Twelve Olympians are the principal gods of the pantheon, they were preceded by twelve Titans, and Hercules carries out twelve labours.[13]
  • Several sets of twelve cities are identified in history as a dodecapolis, the most familiar being the Etruscan League. In ancient Rome, the twelve lictors carried fasces of twelve rods.

Judaism
  • The significance is especially pronounced in the Hebrew Bible.

Ishmael - the first-born son of Abraham - has 12 sons/princes (Genesis 25:16), and Jacob also has 12 sons, who are the progenitors of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.[14] This is reflected in Christian tradition, notably in the twelve Apostles. When Judas Iscariot is disgraced, a meeting is held (Acts) to add Saint Matthias to complete the number twelve once more. The Book of Revelation contains much numerical symbolism, and many of the numbers mentioned have 12 as a divisor. 12:1 mentions a woman—interpreted as the people of Israel, the Church and the Virgin Mary—wearing a crown of twelve stars (representing each of the twelve tribes of Israel). Furthermore, there are 12,000 people sealed from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, making a total of 144,000 (which is the square of 12 multiplied by a thousand).

In English Common Law, the tradition of twelve jurors harks back to the 10th-century law code introduced by Aethelred the Unready.

Hinduism
  • There are twelve Jyotirlinga(Self-formed Lingas) of Lord Shiva in Hindu temples across India according to the Shaiva tradition.
  • The Sun god Surya has 12 names.
  • There are 12 Petals in Anahata or "heart chakra".
  • There are frequently said to be 12 Âdityas.

Others

In the King Arthur Legend, Arthur is said to subdue 12 rebel princes and to win 12 great battles against Saxon invaders.[15]

In Twelver Shi'a Islam, there are twelve Imams, legitimate successors of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. These twelve early leaders of Islam are—Ali, Hasan, Husayn, and nine of Husayn's descendants. Sura 12 in the Quran is sura Yusuf, narrating the story of the sons of Jacob.

Timekeeping
  • The lunar year is 12 lunar months. Adding 11 or 12 days completes the solar year.[16]
  • Most calendar systems - solar or lunar - have twelve months in a year.
  • The Chinese use a 12-year cycle for time-reckoning called Earthly Branches.
  • There are twelve hours in a half day, numbered one to twelve for both the ante meridiem (a.m.) and the post meridiem (p.m.). 12:00 p.m. is midday or noon, and 12:00 a.m. is midnight.
  • The basic units of time (60 seconds, 60 minutes, 24 hours) are evenly divisible by twelve into smaller units.

In numeral systems
۱۲ Arabic ១២ Khmer ԺԲ Armenian
১২ Bangla ΔΙΙ Attic Greek
יב Hebrew
Egyptian
१२ Indian and Nepali (Devanāgarī) 十二 Chinese and Japanese
௧௨ Tamil XII Roman and Etruscan
๑๒ Thai IIX Chuvash
౧౨ Telugu ١٢ Urdu
ιβʹ Ionian Greek ൧൨ Malayalam

In science

In sports
  • In both soccer and American football, the number 12 can be a symbolic reference to the fans because of the support they give to the 11 players on the field. Texas A&M University reserves the number 12 jersey for a walk-on player who represents the original "12th Man", a fan who was asked to play when the team's reserves were low in a college American football game in 1922. Similarly, Bayern Munich, Hammarby, Feyenoord, Atlético Mineiro, Flamengo, Seattle Seahawks, Portsmouth and Cork City do not allow field players to wear the number 12 on their jersey because it is reserved for their supporters.
  • In Canadian football, 12 is the maximum number of players that can be on the field of play for each team at any time.
  • In cricket, another sport with eleven players per team, teams may select a "12th man", who may replace an injured player for the purpose of fielding (but not batting or bowling).
  • In women's lacrosse, each team has 12 players on the field at any given time, except in penalty situations.
  • In rugby league, one of the starting second-row forwards wears the number 12 jersey in most competitions. An exception is in the Super League, which uses static squad numbering.
  • In rugby union, one of the starting centres, most often but not always the inside centre, wears the 12 shirt.
  • In an NBA game, a quarter lasts 12 minutes.

In technology
  • ASCII and Unicode code point for form feed.
  • The number of function keys on most PC keyboards (F1 through F12).
  • The number of keys in any standard digital telephone (1 through 9, 0, * and #).
  • Microsoft's Rich Text Format specification assigns numbers congruent to 12 mod 256 to variants of the French language.

In the arts

Film

Movies with the number twelve or its variations in their titles include:

Television
  • The number twelve plays a significant role in the television franchise Battlestar Galactica. The characters come from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol and worship the twelve lords of Kobol. In the re-imagined series, there are also twelve models of the humanoid version of Cylons.
  • Twelve Angry Men, the original 1954 live performance on the anthology television series Studio One
  • "Number 12 Looks Just Like You" is an episode of the television show The Twilight Zone.
  • Schoolhouse Rock! portrayed an alien child using base-twelve arithmetic in the short "Little Twelvetoes".
  • 12 oz. Mouse was an animated television show on Adult Swim.
  • The News 12 Networks are a group of American regional cable news television channels covering New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
  • Les 12 Coups de Midi is a daily French game show broadcast on TF1 with Oliver Minne at midday CEST.
  • In Star Twinkle PreCure, the Star Palace is home to the twelve Star Princesses, one for each sign of the Zodiac.

Theatre

Literature

Music

Music theory

Pop music

Art theory
  • There are twelve basic hues in the color wheel; 3 primary colors (red, yellow, blue), 3 secondary colors (orange, green & purple) and 6 tertiary colors (names for these vary, but are intermediates between the primaries and secondaries).

Games
  • In the game of craps, a dice roll of two sixes (value 12) on the come-out roll constitutes a "craps" and the shooter (dice thrower) loses immediately.
  • Twelve is a character in the Street Fighter video game series.
  • In Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8, the starting grid carries twelve characters in each race.

In other fields
12 stars are featured on the Flag of Europe
  • There are 12 troy ounces in a troy pound (used for precious metals).
  • In the former British currency system, there were twelve pence in a shilling.
  • In Greek mythology, the number of Labours of Heracles was increased from ten to make twelve.
  • In English, twelve is the number of greatest magnitude that has just one syllable.
  • There are normally twelve pairs of ribs in the human body.
  • The Twelve Tables or Lex Duodecim Tabularum, more informally simply Duodecim Tabulae was the ancient legislation underlying Roman law.
  • In the United States, twelve people are appointed to sit on a jury for felony trials in all but four states, and in federal and Washington, D.C. courts. The number of jurors gave the title to the play (and subsequent films) Twelve Angry Men.
  • Twelve people have walked on Earth's moon.
  • The United States is divided into twelve Federal Reserve Districts (Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco); American paper currency has serial numbers beginning with one of twelve different letters, A through L, representing the Federal Reserve Bank from which the currency originated.
  • According to UFO conspiracy theory, Majestic 12 is a secret committee, allegedly set up by U.S. President Harry S. Truman to investigate the Roswell UFO incident and cover up future extraterrestrial contact.
  • 12 is the number of the French department Aveyron.
  • King Arthur's round table had 12 knights plus King Arthur himself.
  • 12 inches in a foot.
  • Alcoholics Anonymous has 12 steps, 12 traditions and 12 concepts for world service.
  • Wilhelm Heinrich Schüßler developed a list of 12 biochemical cell salts, also known as tissue salts.
gollark: ↑ Gibson ↓
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gollark: =tex \sum_{\sum_{\sum_{\sum}^{\sum}}^{\sum_{\sum}^{\sum}}}^{\sum_{\sum_{\sum}^{\sum}}^{\sum_{\sum}^{\sum}}}
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See also

Notes
  1. Specially, a passage referring to Judas Iscariot as "one of the twelve" (an of ðæm tuelfum).[4]

References

Citations
  1. Gordon, E. V. (1957). Introduction to Old Norse. Oxford, England: Claredon Press. pp. 292–293.
  2. Stevenson, W. H. (December 1899). "The Long Hundred and its Use in England". Archaeological Review. 4 (5): 313–317.
  3. Goodare, Julian (1993). "The Long Hundred in medieval and early modern Scotland" (PDF). Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 123: 395–418.
  4. John 6:71.
  5. Oxford English Dictionary, 1st ed. "twelve, adj. and n." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1916.
  6. Oxford English Dictionary, 1st ed. "eleven, adj. and n." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1891.
  7. Dantzig, Tobias (1930), Number: The Language of Science.
  8. "Numbers: Writing Numbers // Purdue Writing Lab". Purdue Writing Lab. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  9. "Sloane's A002182 : Highly composite numbers". The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. OEIS Foundation. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  10. "Sloane's A081357 : Sublime numbers". The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. OEIS Foundation. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  11. "Sloane's A005835 : Pseudoperfect (or semiperfect) numbers". The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. OEIS Foundation. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  12. Drews (1972), p. 43, n. 10.
  13. Weinreich, Th., "Zwölfgötter", Ausführliches Lexikon der Griechischen und Römischen Mythologie, Vol. VI, col. 764-848.
  14. "And it is thought that there is a special significance in the number twelve. It was typified, we know, by many things in the Old Testament ; by the twelve sons of Jacob, by the twelve princes of the children of Israel, by the twelve fountains in Elim, by the twelve stones in Aaron's breast-plate, by the twelve loaves of the shew-bread, by the twelve spies sent by Moses, by the twelve stones of which the altar was made, by the twelve stones taken out of Jordan, by the twelve oxen which bare" P. Young, Daily readings for a year (1863), p. 150.
  15. Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia, 3d ed.
  16. "Lunar versus solar calendar".

Sources
Books
Journal articles
  • Poonen, Bjorn; Rodriguez-Villegas, Fernando (March 2000). "Lattice Polygons and the Number 12" (PDF). American Mathematical Monthly. 107 (3): 238–250. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-14.
  • Drews, Robert (January 1972). "Light from Anatolia on the Roman Fasces". The American Journal of Philology. 93 (1): 40–51..
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