Editing 5: Blown apart

{{comic
| number    = 5
| date      = October 25, 2005<!-- Per http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http:////www.xkcd.com//blownapart_color.jpg - at least that was the first crawl date --><!--DO NOT ADD 2006-01-01 - this was NOT the actual post date of the comic, but merely the default date in the xkcd database. These comics do not have a known post date-->
| title     = Blown apart
| image     = blownapart_color.jpg
| titletext = Blown into prime factors
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a geeky joke involving prime numbers and primary colors.

In the comic, an {{w|anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic}} black-colored number ''70'' sees a package, but it turns out to be a bomb that explodes when opened.  The result is pieces of the number scattered about.  The specific pieces are a red-colored ''7'', a green-colored ''5'', and a blue-colored ''2''.

The title text explains the logic for splitting 70 into 7, 5, and 2.  It is a {{w|prime factorization}} of the number. {{w|Prime number|Prime numbers}} are numbers which can not be divided by any number other than itself and 1. Factors of a number are numbers which can be multiplied together to produce that number (i.e. 2&times;5&times;7 = 70). 70 has other factors, including 1, 10, 14, 35 and 70, but 2, 5 and 7 are the only factors which are prime. All other factors of 70 can be formed by choosing zero, two, or three of the prime factors and multiplying them together.

Although not explicitly called out, the colors of the numbers also seem to have been blown apart.  Red, green, and blue the primary colors in the {{w|additive color}} model.  These colors mixed in pairs produce cyan, magenta, and yellow, which are primary colors in the {{w|subtractive color}} model.  The removal of all additive primary colors, or conversely, the combination of all subtractive primary colors, produces black which is the color of the original 70 (according to the [http://xkcd.com/5/info.0.json official transcript], although it looks dark blue in the drawing).

==Transcript==
:[A black number 70 sees a red package and a line indicate that the number speaks. This small panel is partly overlaid on the next larger panel, which is shifted down.]
:'''''70'''''
:70: hey, a package!

:[The package explodes in a brown cloud of brown smoke. This panel is both behind the first in the top left corner, and below the last panel which has been laid on top of that corner:]
:'''''BOOM'''''

:[There are a red 7, a green 5 and a blue 2 lying near a scorched mark on the floor.]
:'''''<font color="red">7</font>'''''
::'''''<font color="green">5</font>'''''
:'''''<font color="blue">2</font>'''''

==Trivia==
*This comic was posted on [[xkcd]] when the web site opened on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.
**It was posted along [[:Category:First day on xkcd|with the 41 comics]] posted before that on LiveJournal.
**On the site, it is the first comic with an actual punchline (all previous comics are either just sketches or establishing the background for later comics)
**But this comic, as well as [[12: Poisson]] also released that day, were never posted on [[LiveJournal]]. 
*The release date is given from [http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http:////www.xkcd.com//blownapart_color.jpg - wayback.archive]. At least the 25th of October was the first crawl date. 
**This also explains why it was "released" on a Tuesday. 
**On xkcd it was released for the first time to the public on Sunday the 1st of January 2006.
*One of the original drawings drawn on [[:Category:Checkered paper|checkered paper]].

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:First day on xkcd]]
[[Category:Checkered paper]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Math]]