Seven is the aliquot sum of one number, the cubic number8 and is the base of the 7-aliquot tree.
7 is the only number D for which the equation 2n − D = x2 has more than two solutions for n and x natural. In particular, the equation 2n − 7 = x2 is known as the Ramanujan–Nagell equation.
7 is the only dimension, besides the familiar 3, in which a vector cross product can be defined.
7 is the lowest dimension of a known exotic sphere, although there may exist as yet unknown exotic smooth structures on the 4-dimensional sphere.
999,999 divided by 7 is exactly 142,857. Therefore, when a vulgar fraction with 7 in the denominator is converted to a decimal expansion, the result has the same six-digit repeating sequence after the decimal point, but the sequence can start with any of those six digits.[7] For example, 1/7 = 0.142857 142857... and 2/7 = 0.285714 285714....
In fact, if one sorts the digits in the number 142,857 in ascending order, 124578, it is possible to know from which of the digits the decimal part of the number is going to begin with. The remainder of dividing any number by 7 will give the position in the sequence 124578 that the decimal part of the resulting number will start. For example, 628 ÷ 7 = 895/7; here 5 is the remainder, and would correspond to number 7 in the ranking of the ascending sequence. So in this case, 628 ÷ 7 = 89.714285. Another example, 5238 ÷ 7 = 7482/7, hence the remainder is 2, and this corresponds to number 2 in the sequence. In this case, 5238 ÷ 7 = 748.285714.
There are seven fundamental types of catastrophes.
Graph of the probability distribution of the sum of 2 six-sided dice
When rolling two standard six-sided dice, seven has a 6 in 36 (or 1/6) probability of being rolled (1–6, 6–1, 2–5, 5–2, 3–4, or 4–3), the greatest of any number.
In the beginning, various Hindus wrote 7 more or less in one stroke as a curve that looks like an uppercaseJ vertically inverted. The western Ghubar Arabs' main contribution was to make the longer line diagonal rather than straight, though they showed some tendencies to making the character more rectilinear. The eastern Arabs developed the character from a 6 lookalike into an uppercase V lookalike. Both modern Arab forms influenced the European form, a two-stroke character consisting of a horizontal upper line joined at its right to a line going down to the bottom left corner, a line that is slightly curved in some font variants. As is the case with the European glyph, the Cham and Khmer glyph for 7 also evolved to look like their glyph for 1, though in a different way, so they were also concerned with making their 7 more different. For the Khmer this often involved adding a horizontal line above the glyph.[9] This is analogous to the horizontal stroke through the middle that is sometimes used in handwriting in the Western world but which is almost never used in computer fonts. This horizontal stroke is, however, important to distinguish the glyph for seven from the glyph for one in writings that use a long upstroke in the glyph for 1. In some Greek dialects of early 12th century the longer line diagonal was drawn in a rather semicircular transverse line.
On the seven-segment displays of pocket calculators and digital watches, 7 is the number with the most common glyph variation (1, 6 and 9 also have variant glyphs). Most calculators use three line segments, but on Sharp, Casio, and a few other brands of calculators, 7 is written with four line segments because, in Japan, Korea and Taiwan 7 is written as ① in the illustration to the right.
While the shape of the 7 character has an ascender in most modern typefaces, in typefaces with text figures the character usually has a descender, as, for example, in .
Most people in Continental Europe,[10] and some in Britain and Ireland as well as Latin America, write 7 with a line in the middle ("7"), sometimes with the top line crooked. The line through the middle is useful to clearly differentiate the character from the number one, as the two can appear similar when written in certain styles of handwriting. This glyph is used in official handwriting rules for primary school in Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Poland, other Slavic countries,[11] France, Italy, Belgium, Finland,[12] Romania, Germany, Greece,[13] and Hungary.[14][not in citation given]
7 was considered a God number in ancient Egypt. The Pharaoh usually ordered things in groups of multiples of 7. For a time, 7 was not even used in writings for the people of Egypt.[15]
Seven is the sum of any two opposite sides on a standard six-sided die.
In the game of craps, a dice roll of 7 on the come-out constitutes a "natural" and the Pass line wins immediately. However, if the shooter (dice thrower) rolls a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 on the come-out roll, that number becomes his "point'. Now, the shooter must repeat his point before he throws a seven. If he repeats his point, the Pass line wins. If he rolls a seven, not only does the Pass line lose, the shooter loses control of the dice. This is called a "seven-out".
Video games
The 7th Guest, produced by Trilobyte and released by Virgin Games in 1993, is an FMV-based puzzle horror video game.
"The 7" are a group of deadly mercenaries that kidnap the protagonist's family in the video game Kane & Lynch: Dead Men.
In the Killer7 game, the number of individual personalities serving Harman Smith as part of the group of assassins called the Killer7
In Beloved, the novel by Toni Morrison, the number seven seems to have recurring significance. "Beloved" has seven letters, 124 adds up to seven, each chapter begins on a number containing seven, and the second chapter contains seven parts.
In the first of the three Deltora Quest series of books by Emily Rodda, the protagonist must collect the seven gems of the fabled Belt of Deltora: topaz, ruby, opal, lapis lazuli, emerald, amethyst, and diamond. Each of the seven gems are guarded by one of seven guardians located in one of the seven locations around Deltora: The Forests of Silence, Lake of Tears, City of the Rats, The Shifting Sands, Dread Mountain, Maze of the Beast, and Valley of the Lost.
In the Dragon Ball series, there are seven crystalline spheres known as the Dragon balls. Each Dragon ball has a certain number of stars on it displaying its respective number in the set.
The manga Eureka Seven, based on the anime series.
In the Fushigi Yuugi manga series, the four beast gods each have seven warriors, the Genbu Seven, the Byakko Seven, the Seiryuu Seven, and the Suzaku Seven.
In the Harry Potter series of novels by J.K. Rowling, seven is said to be the most powerfully magical number. There are a number of references to seven in Harry Potter: there are a total of seven books in the series; Ginny Weasley is the seventh child and only daughter of the Weasley family; Harry Potter was born in July, the seventh month of the year; Wizarding students must complete seven years of school at Hogwarts; There are seven secret passages leading out of Hogwarts; Seven is also the number on the back of Harry Potter's Quidditch robes (Prisoner of Azkaban movie). Professor Moody was also hidden in a chest with an underground cubby, which was locked with seven locks Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In Quidditch each team consists of seven players. Chapter four of Book 7 is titled "The Seven Potters". Lord Voldemort planned on making six Horcruxes (objects containing parts of his soul), so that his soul would exist in seven parts, but made an extra one, making a total of seven Horcruxes.
In the InuYasha series, the Shichinintai are, as their name says, a band of seven mercenaries.
The character 7 (Nana) and the organization Septimal Moon in Loveless (manga)
In the Nana manga series, there are many recurrent instances of the number seven ("nana" is Japanese for "seven"), including the name of both main characters.
One of the Tailed Beasts, in the unnamed Naruto universe, which is the Seven-Tailed beast, and a giant Kabutomushi, was revealed to be named Chōmei, and the jinchuriki host to the young kunoichi Fū. Has six dragonfly-like wings that makes up six of its tails, and a long stem that also makes up its actual tail.
In the One Piece series, the Shichibukai (literally, "Seven Military Seas", known in the English versions as the "Seven Warlords of the Sea") are seven powerful pirates who work for the government.
The Saga of Seven Suns, a series of seven novels by Kevin J. Anderson.
In Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, there are 7 Endless: Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Despair, Desire and Delirium.
In the Septimus Heap series, Septimus is the seventh son of a seventh son, 7 is believed to be the most magical number. There will also be seven books in the series, along with many other things relating to the number 7.
In George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, seven gods, the Mother, the Father, the Warrior, the Crone, the Smith, the Maiden, and the Stranger, are worshipped in the land of Westeros, which is made up of seven former kingdoms and often called the Seven Kingdoms. The Seven are the primary deities of Westeros.
In The Tales of Alvin Maker, an alternate history fantasy series by Orson Scott Card, seventh sons are imbued with special powers, referred to as "knacks", over the physical world. The powers of a seventh son of a seventh son, the birthright of the series' main character, Alvin Smith, are especially pronounced. Men who wield these powers to create are referred to as "Makers".
In Toaru Majutsu no Index, there are a total of seven Level 5 espers: Accelerator, Kakine Teitoku, Misaka Mikoto, Mugino Shizuri, Shokuhou Misaki, an unknown esper and Sogiita Gunha.
In The Two Towers, the second volume of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, the following poem appears: "Tall ships and tall kings/Three times three/What brought they from the foundered land/Over the flowing sea?/Seven stars and seven stones/And one white tree." The "foundered land" is Númenor, and the "Seven Stars" are unknown, but they may refer to a constellation, the Sickle of the Valar. The Seven Stones are the palantíri, the seeing-stones. The number seven was also significant to Dwarvish culture as portrayed by Tolkien: there were seven fathers of the Dwarves (as recounted in The Silmarillion) and the Dwarves were later given seven rings by Sauron (according to The Lord of the Rings).
David Eastis authored two books about the popular number seven both with the title "7".
In Rick Riordan's series The Heroes of Olympus there are seven heroes of the Great Prophecy: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque, and Frank Zhang.
Music
The number of notes in the traditional Western diatonic scale (major or minor)
There are seven ways that a batter can reach base (safe hit, base on balls, fielder's error, fielder's choice, hit by pitch, catcher's interference, and dropped third strike).
The standard ball used for full-court men's play is designated as "size 7".
In the rule sets used for US college men's play and US high schools for both sexes, a team begins shooting bonus free throws once its opponent has committed 7 personal fouls in a half.
In rugby league, the jersey number 7 is worn by the starting scrum-half/halfback in most competitions (but not in the Super League, which uses static squad numbering).
In rugby union, the jersey number 7 is worn by the starting openside flanker. (Some teams use "left" and "right" flankers instead of "openside" and "blindside", with 7 being worn by the starting right flanker.)
In netball, each team has seven players on the court.
In Ultimate, each team has seven players on the field.
In water polo, each team is allowed to have a maximum of seven players, one of them a goalkeeper, in the playing area of the pool at any given time.
Television
Networks and stations
The circle 7 logo used by numerous ABC network O&O stations in the U.S. (In the late 1940s, ABC arranged for its five original, founding O&O TV stations to broadcast on channel 7.)
Maximum number of VHF broadcast channels available in any TV market in the United States of America; they are channels 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13 in the Greater New York City and Los Angeles-Long Beach SMSAs.
ProSieben (sieben being German for seven), a television network in Germany
Eureka Seven, a science fiction and romance anime.
In Red Dwarf II episode "Parallel Universe", Holly forgets the number 7 in a countdown for the Holly Hop Drive. After Rimmer reminds him, he admits he has "a blind spot for sevens".
In the Seinfeld episode "The Seven", Seven is the name George Costanza desires to give his first-born, having allegedly promised this to the widow of baseball great Mickey Mantle (whose uniform number was 7). George is enraged, however, when his fiancé's cousin and spouse copy the idea and give the name to their child.
Seven Days, a science fiction show about the NSA using time travel.
The name of one of the monsters in the cartoon television show Seven Little Monsters.
Ultra Seven, a television series aired in 1967, and the superhero of the same name. He is the honorary seventh member of the Ultra Garrison
In House of Anubis (on Nickelodeon), the "chosen one" has to be born on 7/7 (July 7) at 7:00am.
George Carlin in what is perhaps his best-known routine, "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television".
Lucky 7: Short-lived ABC TV series (premiered 2013) about seven people who win the lottery.
The last episode of American Horror Story: Coven is named The Seven Wonders, after the seven great powers a witch should perform to become the leader or "Supreme" of the generation: Telekinesis, Concilium, Descensum, Divination, Transmutation, Vitalum Vitalis and Pyrokinesis.
In the anime series Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, there are seven magical ancient Egyptian artefacts, known as the Millennium Items (Puzzle, Eye, Ring, Key, Scale, Rod and Necklace), which play a significant role in the storyline of the show throughout its duration.
The number 7 plays a significant role in HBO's Game of Thrones. There are seven Kingdoms in the land of Westeros. There are seven Hells and Heavens, seven deities in the major religion, the holy text of said religion is referred to as "The Seven Pointed Star. Seven heroes embark North of the Wall to capture a wight in Season 7. A Song of Ice and Fire, the series the Television show is based on will contain seven books after Author George R.R. Martin is finished writing the series.
Places
The traditional count of Basque provinces as expressed in the slogan Zazpiak Bat, translates as "the seven [are] one" and refers to the seven Basque traditional provinces..
The Seven Virgins mountain range in Sri Lanka, which was the scene of an air disaster on December 4, 1974, involving a DC-8 Series 55F passenger jetliner operated by the charter company Martinair, which left 191 dead.
The Sevens (sometimes typeset as "7he Sevens"), a rugby union stadium in Dubai, UAE and home to the Dubai Sevens tournament
Religion and mythology
Old Testament
Seven Hebrew words of Bereishit 1:1 / Genesis 1:1 (28 letters).
Seven Days of Creation - 1765 book
The number seven in the seven days of Creation is typological and the number seven appears commonly elsewhere in the Bible. These include:
Seven days of Creation (Genesis 1) e.g., God rested on and sanctified the seventh day (Sabbath).
Anyone who dares to kill Cain "will suffer vengeance seven times over" (Genesis 4:15).
Lamech in his "Song of the Sword" claims that "if Cain shall be avenged sevenfold", he himself shall be "seventy-sevenfold" (Genesis 4:24).
Noah is commanded to bring seven pairs of every clean animal onto the ark (Genesis 7:2).
Seven years of plenty and seven years of famine in Pharaoh's dream (Genesis 41).
In regards to the sin sacrifice, the anointed priest was to sprinkle the bullock's blood seven times before the LORD (Leviticus 4:6)
Seven days of the feast of Passover (Exodus 13:3–10)
Seven-day week and the pattern concerning distribution and use of manna (Exodus 16)
Gad, whose name means good luck, is the seventh son of Jacob. Areli is the seventh son of Gad (Genesis 46:16). Chronicles lists David as the seventh son of Jesse (1 Chronicles 2:15). An unnamed eighth individual appeared among the seven in 1 Samuel 16, then David as the youngest is brought before Samuel.
Peter asked Jesus if he should forgive up to seven times; Jesus responded by saying to forgive them "seventy times seven times", alluding to the Curse of Cain and the Song of Lamech in Genesis 4.[16]
Seven of the following appear in Revelation: golden lampstands (1:12), stars (1:16), torches of fire (4:5) Seven Seals (5:1), angels and their trumpets (8:2), last plagues (15:1), golden bowls (15:7), thunders (10:3), horns and eyes (5:6), diadems (12:3) and kings (17:10). See Category:Seven in the Book of Revelation.
Other sevens in Christian knowledge and practice include:
The number of walks between Al-Safa and Al-Marwah pilgrims perform during the Hajj and the Umrah.
The number of doors to hell is seven (for heaven the number of doors is eight).
In Verse 12:46 (see Islamic view of Joseph) of the Quran, Joseph (Yusef) is asked to interpret the King's dream where seven fat cows were dreamt to have been devoured by seven skinny cows and seven green spikes, and others shrivelled.
The number of the big sins or vices is seven which are from a Hadith of the prophet Mohamed: "Avoid the seven sins polytheism, witchcraft, the killing of the soul which Allah has forbidden except by right, consuming riba, consuming the wealth of the orphan, to escape from the battles and slandering chaste women".
A naming ceremony is held for babies on their seventh day of life.
Judaism
Shiv`a (another pronunciation of the Hebrew word for 7—(Hebrew: שבעה, "seven")), is the number of days of mourning. Hence, one sits Shiva. As in Shiva (Judaism).
The weekly Torah portion is divided into seven aliyahs, and seven Jewish men (or boys over the age of 13 who are considered men; Bar Mitzvah) are called up for the reading of these aliyahs during Shabbat morning services.
Seven blessings are recited under the chuppah during a Jewish wedding ceremony.
A Jewish bride and groom are feted with seven days of festive meals after their wedding, known as Sheva Berachot ("Seven Blessings").
In Irish mythology, the epic hero Cúchulainn is associated with the number 7. He has seven fingers on each hand, seven toes on each foot, and seven pupils in each eye. In the Irish epic Táin Bó Cúailnge, Cúchulainn is 7 years old when he receives his first weapons and defeats the armies of the Ulaidh and his son Connla is 7 years old when he is slain by Cúchulainn in "The Death of Aife's Only Son".
In Galician folklore, a seventh son will be a werewolf. In other folklores, after six daughters, the seventh child is to be a son and a werewolf. In other European folklores, the seventh son of a seventh son will be a child with special powers of healing and clairvoyant seeing, and in other cultures that seventh son of a seventh son would be a vampire.
In the eponymous British folk tale, Thomas the Rhymer went to live in the faerie kingdom for seven years.
Mahatma Gandhi's list of the destructive Seven Blunders of the World that cause violence: Wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, religion without sacrifice and politics without principle.
The cosmogony of Urantia[19] gives an explanation to the sacredness of the number 7 in some religions, including those based on a triple deity: 7 indeed is the number of all the possible combinations of three elements taken one by one, two by two, or by three. It therefore expresses all the associative possibilities of the three fundamental aspects of the absolute (Christian Trinity, for example, or Trimurti in Hinduism) which organizes the Creation. The seventh of these combinations being the one that combines the three aspects, 7 therefore also expresses spiritual achievement.
In other traditions and teachings, seven is seen as the perfect number that holds creation and the universe together.[20] From the 7 deadly sins to 7 chakras, 7 heavens and 7 planes of creation, this number holds great significance.
Place
The number of main islands of mythological Atlantis.
The number of gateways traversed by Inanna during her descent into the underworld.
Cibola was one of the legendary Seven Cities of Gold the Spanish thought existed.
In the Bahá'í faith, the text The Seven Valleys, by the Prophet-Founder Bahá'u'lláh, relates the journey of the soul through the seven "valleys" of Search, Love, Knowledge, Unity, Contentment, Wonderment, and finally True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness.
Scripture
Circle Seven Koran, the holy scripture of the Moorish Science Temple of America
The number of crystal systems: triclinic, monoclinic, orthorhombic, tetragonal, trigonal, hexagonal, and cubic.
The number of crystal lattice systems: cubic (or isometric), hexagonal, tetragonal, rhombohedral, orthorhombic, monoclinic and triclinic.
Physics
Isaac Newton's 7 colors of the rainbow
There are seven SI base units.[23] These are a coherent set of units defined to measure seven basic physical properties: metre, kilogram, second, ampere, kelvin, mole, candela. The seven SI base units are used to define all other SI units, which are known as SI derived units.[24]
The Kulin people of Australia living near the Dandenong Ranges traditionally have seven seasons. Some of the Native Americans of Montana also have seven seasons: chinook season, muddy spring, green summer, gold summer (or dry summer), "Indian" Summer, late fall, and cold winter.
The 7th glyph of the Maya Calendar is Blue Hand, it represents the days in creation and is associated with creative perfection. This is the glyph of the last day of their calendar that ends on December 21, 2012.
^Georges Ifrah, The Universal History of Numbers: From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer transl. David Bellos et al. London: The Harvill Press (1998): 395, Fig. 24.67
^"Μαθηματικά Α' Δημοτικού" [Mathematics for the First Grade] (PDF) (in Greek). Ministry of Education, Research, and Religions. p. 33. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
^Mark, Joshua. "Pharaoh". Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
^21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" 22Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven."