12 (number)

12 (twelve /ˈtwɛlv/) is the natural number following 11 and preceding 13. The product of the first three factorials, twelve is a superior highly composite number, divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6. It is central to many systems of counting, including the Western calendar and units of time, and frequently appears in the Abrahamic religions.

Name

The word "twelve" is the largest number with a single-syllable name in English. Late 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.

It derives from the Old English twelf and tuelf, first attested in the 10th-century Lindisfarne Gospels' Book of John.^{[n 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 "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]

In languages

Grammar

While, as mentioned above, 12 has its own name in Germanic languages such as English and German, 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.

Spelling

In Germany, according to an old tradition, the numbers 0 (null) through 12 (zwölf) were spelt out, and 13 (dreizehn) as the first compound number was the first number written in digits. The Duden (the German standard dictionary) now calls this tradition (which was actually never written down as an official rule) outdated and no longer valid, but many writers still follow it.

For the English language, different systems are used: Sometimes it is recommended to spell out numbers up to and including nine or ten or twelve, like formerly in German, 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).

In mathematics

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.^[8]

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.^[9] 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.^[10]

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

In numeral systems

12	Arabic	ԺԲ	Armenian
১২	Bangla	ΔΙΙ	Attic Greek
יב	Hebrew		Egyptian
१२	Indian & 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

• The atomic number of magnesium in the periodic table.
• The Standard Model identifies twelve types of elementary fermions.
• The human body has twelve cranial nerves.
• The duodenum (from Latin duodecim, "twelve") is the first part of the small intestine, that is about twelve inches (30 cm) long. More precisely, this section of the intestine was measured not in inches but in fingerwidths. In fact, in German the name of the duodenum is Zwölffingerdarm and in Dutch the name is twaalfvingerige darm, both meaning "twelve-finger bowel".
• Force 12 on the Beaufort wind force scale corresponds to the maximum wind speed of a hurricane.

Astronomy

• Messier object M12, a magnitude 8.0 globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus
• The New General Catalogue object NGC 12, a magnitude 13.1 spiral galaxy in the constellation Pisces
• The 12th moon of Jupiter is Lysithea.
• The Western zodiac has twelve signs, as does the Chinese zodiac.

In religion and mythology

There are twelve "Jyotirlingas" in Hindu Shaivism. The Shaivites (orthodox devotees of God Shiva) treat them with great respect and they are visited by almost every pious Hindu at least once in a lifetime. The number 12 is very important in many religions, mainly Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and also found in some older religions and belief systems. In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the Pandavas and their wife Draupadi go to the forest for 12 years exile and 1 year disguise-appearance exile.

In antiquity there are numerous ceremonial, magical, and religious uses of twelve.^{[n 2]} The twelve lictors carried fasces of twelve rods. Ancient Greek religion, the Twelve Olympians were the principal gods of the pantheon and Hercules enacted out twelve labours. The chief Norse god, Odin, had 12 sons. Several sets of twelve cities are identified in history as a dodecapolis, the most familiar being the Etruscan League. In the King Arthur Legend, Arthur is said to have subdued 12 rebel princes and to have won 12 great battles against Saxon invaders. [source: Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia, 3d ed]

The importance of 12 in Judaism and Christianity can be found in the Bible. The biblical Jacob had 12 sons, who were the progenitors of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, while the New Testament describes twelve apostles of Jesus; when Judas Iscariot was disgraced, a meeting was held (Acts) to add Saint Matthias to complete the number twelve once more. (Today, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.)

The Book of Revelation contains much numerical symbolism, and a lot of the numbers mentioned have 12 as a divisor. 12:1 mentions a woman—interpreted as the people of Israel, the Church or 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 Orthodox Judaism, 12 signifies the age a girl matures (bat mitzvah)

There are 12 days of Christmas. The song Twelve Days of Christmas came from the traditional practice of extending Yuletide celebrations over the twelve days from Christmas day to the eve of Epiphany; the period of thirteen days including Epiphany is sometimes known as Christmastide. Thus Twelfth Night is another name for the twelfth day of Christmas or January 5 (the eve of Epiphany). Similarly, Eastern Orthodoxy observes 12 Great Feasts.

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.

Imāmah (Arabic: إمامة) is the Shī‘ah doctrine of religious, spiritual and political leadership of the Ummah. The Shī‘ah believe that the A'immah ("Imams") are the true Caliphs or rightful successors of Muḥammad, and Twelver and Ismā‘īlī Shī‘ah further that Imams are possessed of supernatural knowledge, authority, and infallibility (‘Iṣmah) as well as being part of the Ahl al-Bayt, the family of Muhammad.[1] Both beliefs distinguish the Shī‘ah from Sunnis.

In Quran, the Sura number 12 is Sura Yusuf (Joseph), and it is located in Juz'a (Arabic : الجزء) number 12. This Sura narrates the story of Prophet Yusuf and his 11 brothers, making 12.

In Hinduism, the sun god Surya has 12 names. Also, there are 12 Petals in Anahata (Heart Chakra.)

Taoism

• Chinese Astrology
• Zang-fu

In time

• Most calendar systems have twelve months in a year.
• The Chinese use a 12-year cycle for time-reckoning called Earthly Branches.
• There are twenty-four hours in a day in all, with twelve hours for a half a day. The hours are numbered from one to twelve for both the ante meridiem (a.m.) half of the day and the post meridiem (p.m.) half of the day. 12:00 after a.m. and before p.m. (in the middle of the day) is midday or noon, and 12:00 after p.m. and before a.m. (in the middle of the night) is midnight. A new day is considered to start with the stroke of midnight. The basic units of time (60 seconds, 60 minutes, 24 hours) can all perfectly divide by twelve.
• In one solar year there are roughly 12 lunar months: ( one solar year / one average lunar month ≈ 365.2422 solar days / 29.5305 solar days ≈ 12.3683 ≈ 12 ) ^[13]

In sports

• In both association football (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, bowling or keeping wicket).
• In rugby league, one of the starting second-row forwards wears the number 12 jersey in most competitions. An exception is in the European 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 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

• 12
• 12 Angry Men (1957 and 1997)
• Cheaper by the Dozen
• Ocean's Twelve
• 12 Monkeys
• The Dirty Dozen
• 12 Rounds
• Twelve
• Twelve Years a Slave

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.

Theatre

• Twelfth Night is a comedy by William Shakespeare
• The Vision of the Twelve Goddesses is a Jacobean masque by Samuel Daniel
• Twelve Angry Men, by Reginald Rose, adapted from his own teleplay (see above)

Literature

• The Twelve is a poem by Aleksandr Blok
• Twelve is a novel by Nick McDonell
• The Twelve Chairs is a satirical novel by the Soviet authors Ilf and Petrov
• Cheaper by the Dozen is a 1946 novel by Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
• The Twelve Dancing Princesses is a folk tale
• The Aeneid, an epic poem by Virgil is divided into two halves composed of twelve books.
• Paradise Lost, an epic poem by John Milton is divided into twelve books perhaps in imitation of the Aeneid
• Miguel de Cervantes wrote twelve Novelas ejemplares

Music

• Twelve Girls Band
• Twelve is the number of pitch classes in an octave, not counting the duplicated (octave) pitch. Also, the total number of major keys, (not counting enharmonic equivalents) and the total number of minor keys (also not counting equivalents). This applies only to twelve tone equal temperament, the most common tuning used today in western influenced music.
• The twelfth is the interval of an octave and a fifth. Instruments such as the clarinet which behave as a stopped cylindrical pipe overblow at the twelfth.
• The twelve-tone technique (also dodecaphony) is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg. Music using the technique is called twelve-tone music.
• The 12-inch single is a vinyl record format.
• Twelfth Night is a progressive rock band
• 12 Play is an R. Kelly album.
• The Number 12 Looks Like You is a mathcore band.
• "12", a Song from Brave Murder Day by Katatonia.
• 12 is a studio album by German singer Herbert Grönemeyer.
• Twelve is an album by Patti Smith.
• Twelve Deadly Cyns...and Then Some is an album by Cyndi Lauper.
• D12 a rap group also known as the Dirty Dozen.
• Musical group named 12 Stones
• 12 Hundred is a song by band Mushroomhead of their Savior Sorrow album.
• 12 is the 12th studio album by Keller Williams.
• "12" ("Dodeka" in Greek) is one of the most well-known hits by Anna Vissi
• 12 is the number of studio albums the band The Beatles released.
• The 1812 overture
• "Twelve drummers drumming" is the gift on the twelfth day of Christmas in the carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas"
• The Twelve-bar blues is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular 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 can carry twelve characters.

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 of America 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.
• 12 face cards in a card deck.
• 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.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 12 (number).

• Thirteen
• The Twelfth

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Drews, Robert (January 1972), "Light from Anatolia on the Roman Fasces", The American Journal of Philology, Vol. 93, No. 1, pp. 40–51 .
• Lattice Polygons and the Number 12, Bjorn Poonen, Fernando Rodriguez-Villegas, American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 107, No. 3 (March, 2000), pp. 238–250
• Schwartzman, Steven (1994). The words of mathematics: An etymological dictionary of mathematical terms used in English. The Mathematical Association of America. ISBN 0-88385-511-9.