18 (number)

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18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19.

In speech, the numbers 18 and 80 are sometimes confused. When carefully enunciated, they differ in which syllable is stressed: 18 /eɪtˈtiːn/ vs 80 /ˈeɪti/. However, in dates such as 1864, or when contrasting numbers in the teens, such as 17, 18, 19, the stress shifts to the first syllable: 18 /ˈeɪttiːn/. In some dialects, such as General American, there is little confusion because the single t sound in 80 becomes a d-like flap [ɾ], whereas the double t sound in 18 does not. In a 24-hour clock, the eighteenth hour is in conventional language called six or six o'clock.

In mathematics

Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect number.^[1] Eighteen is the first inverted square-prime of the form p·q².

It is a heptagonal number,^[2] and as the sum of the first three pentagonal numbers, it is a pentagonal pyramidal number.^[3] It is also the sum of the totient function for the first seven integers.^[4] It is the sixth lucas number.^[5]

Eighteen is the second abundant number with the aliquot sum of 21 (117% in abundance) in the aliquot sequence (18, 21, 11, 1, 0) thus being the first composite number in the 11-aliquot tree. Eighteen is the aliquot sum of only one number the square 289.

In base 10 it is a Harshad number.^[6]

18, aside from 0, is the only number that equals twice the sum of its decimal digits.

In science

Chemistry

• The atomic number of argon
• Group 18 of the periodic table is called the noble gases
• The 18-electron rule is a rule of thumb in transition metal chemistry for characterising and predicting the stability of metal complexes

Astronomy

• The number of years in the Saros cycle of eclipses of the sun and moon

In religion and literature

• The Hebrew word for "life" is חי (chai), which has a numerical value of 18. Consequently, the custom has arisen in Jewish circles to give donations and monetary gifts in multiples of 18 as an expression of blessing for long life.
• In Judaism, in the Talmud; Pirkei Avot (5:25), Rabbi Yehudah ben Teime gives the age of 18 as the appropriate age to get married ("Ben shmonah esra lechupah", at eighteen years old to the Chupah (marriage canopy)). (See Coming of age, Age of majority).
• Shemoneh Esrei (sh'MOH-nuh ES-ray)

Lit. eighteen. A prayer that is the center of any Jewish religious service. Also known as the Amidah. See Jewish Liturgy. jewfaq.org

• In Ancient Roman custom the number 18 can symbolise a blood relative.
• Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22 was originally named Catch-18 because of the Hebrew meaning of the number, but was amended to the published title to avoid confusion with another war novel, Mila 18.^[7]
• There are 18 chapters in the Bhagavad Gita, which is contained in the Mahabharata, which has 18 books. The Kurukshetra War which the epic depicts, is between 18 armies (11 on the Kuru side, 7 on the Pandava). The war itself lasts for 18 days. In the other Hindu epic, the Ramayana, the war between Rama and the demons also lasted 18 days.
• A shape looking like 18 in Arabic numbers is formed by the lines on the palm of the right hand.

As lucky or unlucky number

• In Chinese tradition, 18 pronounced 十八 (shí bā) and is a considered lucky number due to similarity with 實發 (shì fā) 'definitely get rich', 'to get rich for sure'.^[8]

Age 18

In most countries, 18 is the age of majority and also the voting age.
In eleven states of the United States, 18 is the age of sexual consent

• It is also the age of sexual consent under USA federal law (although this law only applies in circumstances involving transportation or transaction between different states or outside the USA).^[9]
• In addition Pennsylvania has a corruption of minors law that makes the de facto age of consent there 18,^[10]
• This is also the case in some jurisdictions outside the USA.^[11] including Canada^[12][13]

In sports

• In Australian rules football:
  • Each team has 18 players on the field during play.
  • The Australian Football League, the sport's top professional league, has had 18 teams since the 2012 season.
• In association football, "the 18" is a slang term for the penalty area.
• The jersey number 18 has been retired by several North American sports teams in honor of past playing greats or other key figures:
  • In Major League Baseball:
    • The Cincinnati Reds, for Ted Kluszewski.
    • The Cleveland Indians, for Mel Harder.
  • In the NBA:
    • The Boston Celtics, for Hall of Famer Dave Cowens. The team initially planned to retire the number for Jim Loscutoff, but he requested that the number not be retired at that time.
  • In the NHL:
    • The Buffalo Sabres, for Danny Gare.
    • The Chicago Blackhawks, for Hall of Famer Denis Savard.
    • The Montreal Canadiens, for Hall of Famer Serge Savard.
    • The Los Angeles Kings, for Dave Taylor.
  • In the NFL:
    • The Denver Broncos, for Frank Tripucka. The number was taken out of retirement, with Tripucka's blessing, for Peyton Manning, who wore the number with the Indianapolis Colts.
    • The Kansas City Chiefs, for Hall of Famer Emmitt Thomas.
    • The Colts have yet to retire any numbers during their history in Indianapolis, but have taken #18 out of circulation following Manning's departure from the team.
  • In addition, the University of Mississippi football program has retired #18 for Archie Manning.
• 18 is also the number of a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car currently owned by Joe Gibbs Racing. The #18 has been driven by Kyle Busch since 2008. Other notable drivers of the car include Dale Jarrett, who won the 1993 Daytona 500 in the #18; Bobby Labonte, who won the Cup championship in 2000; and J. J. Yeley.
• The number of holes on a regulation golf course

In other fields

Eighteen is also:

• 18:00, a time on the 24-hour clock corresponding to 6:00 PM.
• A 2005 movie directed by Richard Bell and starring Brendan Fletcher and Alan Cumming.
• A 2002 album by electronic artist Moby.
• The number of chapters into which James Joyce's epic novel Ulysses is divided
• Russ Wheeler's car number in the film Days of Thunder
• The number of wheels on the most common type of North American tractor-trailer truck, which are hence often called 18-wheelers
• The number of the French department Cher and the Turkish province Bitlis
• DVD-18 is double-sided, double-layered DVD format
• A Canon error message, see E18 error
• In neo-Nazi circles, a code word for Adolf Hitler. The number comes from the position of the letters in the alphabet: A = 1, H = 8. See also 88.
• Android 18, a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga and anime series.
• 18th Street gang, a Hispanic American gang
• The Hindu epic Mahabharata has eighteen sections, involves eighteen armies and is about a war fought over eighteen days
• In some countries the number 18 means blood (relative)
• In the Chinese mythos, Hell has 18 levels
• In Chinese folklore, the Shaolin temple had a group of 18 bronze Monks. Initiates could only be considered full graduates of Shaolin martial arts if they could defeat them in combat.
• In 1990 Megadeth released Hanger 18 as a single for the Rust in Piece Album.
• Eighteen Visions (often abbreviated to 18V), an alternative metal/metalcore band from Orange County, California.
• Eighteen Eighteen, a South African Rap artist.
• "I'm Eighteen", Alice Cooper's first Top Ten hit single, from their 1971 album Love It to Death.
• Eighteen is also a surname, recorded in East Anglia in the 18th century ^[14]

See also

• Numeral system

Notes