57
"Heinz 57" comes from an 1896 slogan that was already inaccurate when it was coined. 57 is also famous for not being prime — it is 3 × 19, yet is widely known as the "Grothendieck prime" — and it is the atomic number of lanthanum.
- Odd
- Composite
Where 57 fits
Why 57 is special
57's brand recognition (from an 1896 marketing slogan) far outlasted its literal accuracy — Heinz sold well over 57 products even at the time.
57 connects to:
- 19 — has factor
Same number, different meanings
How 57 is understood across different contexts — never implying one meaning because of another.
- Mathematics
57's brand recognition (from an 1896 marketing slogan) far outlasted its literal accuracy — Heinz sold well over 57 products even at the time.
- Culture
'Heinz 57' — from the H. J. Heinz food company's long-running '57 Varieties' marketing slogan, coined in 1896 — made 57 a recognisable brand number in American and British popular culture, even though Heinz sold well over 57 products by the time the slogan was created.
- Science
57 is the atomic number of lanthanum, the element that gives its name to the wider lanthanide series.
Factors & digit properties
- Divisors (4)
- 1, 3, 19, 57
- Prime factorisation
- 3 × 19
- Digit sum
- 12
- Digital root
- 3
Representations
- Decimal
- 57
- Scientific notation
- 5.700 × 10^1
Roman numerals
L V I I
Binary
1 1 1 0 0 1
1 × 32 + 1 × 16 + 1 × 8 + 0 × 4 + 0 × 2 + 1 × 1 = 57
Octal
7 1
7 × 8 + 1 × 1 = 57
Hexadecimal
3 9
3 × 16 + 9 × 1 = 57
Read as powers of two: 32 + 16 + 8 + 1 = 57.
In historical numeral systems
Egyptian
5 hobbles, 7 strokes
5 × 10 + 7 × 1 = 57. The signs are simply repeated and added; where they sit on the line is a matter of layout, not value.
Babylonian
5 corner wedges + 7 vertical wedges
57 fits in a single sexagesimal place: 5 corner wedges + 7 vertical wedges.
Greek (Ionic)
nu, then zeta, marked as a numeral
nu-zeta + keraia
nu + zeta written in descending order and added — the letters carry their values wherever they stand, so this is addition, not place value.
Hebrew numerals
nun, then zayin
nun-zayin
nun (50) + zayin (7) = 57, written in descending order.
Chinese numerals
wǔ shí qī
wǔ shí qī
五 before 十 multiplies it: 5 tens. 七 after it adds 7. The written form mirrors the arithmetic — "wǔ shí qī". The financial (anti-fraud) form is 伍拾柒.
Maya
2 dots (upper, twenties place) over 3 bars + 2 dots (lower, units place)
2 × 20 + 17 = 57. Places stack vertically with the smallest at the bottom, so the upper group is worth twenty times the lower.
Systems that simply cannot reach this value are left out. Where a script needs a font most readers do not have, the reading is given instead of the glyphs — see number systems for each system in full.
Other mathematical patterns
- Deficient number
- Semiprime
Related numbers & connections
19 is a factor of 57 (19 × 3 = 57).
View 19 →Mathematically related
- has factor19
why?
Strength 0.50, confidence "high".
Culture
'Heinz 57' — from the H. J. Heinz food company's long-running '57 Varieties' marketing slogan, coined in 1896 — made 57 a recognisable brand number in American and British popular culture, even though Heinz sold well over 57 products by the time the slogan was created.
Widely documentedCultureGeography: United States, United Kingdom
Mathematics
57 is 3 x 19, yet it is widely known as the 'Grothendieck prime' after the mathematician Alexander Grothendieck reportedly offered it when asked for a concrete prime during a lecture. The anecdote endures because it illustrates how far abstract work can run from arithmetic.
DocumentedMathematics
Science
57 is the atomic number of lanthanum, the element that gives its name to the wider lanthanide series.
DocumentedScience
Common questions
Is 57 a prime number?
No — 57 is 3 × 19. It is nevertheless known as the 'Grothendieck prime', after the mathematician Alexander Grothendieck reportedly named it when asked for a concrete prime during a lecture. The anecdote survives because it illustrates how far work at that level of abstraction runs from arithmetic.
What are the factors of 57?
The factors of 57 are 1, 3, 19, 57.
What is 57 in Roman numerals?
57 in Roman numerals is LVII.
About this page's data
Mathematical facts:computed directly from the number's value — nothing to source or verify externally.
Contextual records: 3 reviewer-confirmed records, sourced and reviewed before publication.
Last reviewed: 15 July 2026