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If f ( n ) = n 3 − 2 n 2 + 2 n − 4 , then f ( 3 ) = 1 1 , which is prime.
Also, since f ( n ) = ( n − 2 ) ( n 2 + 2 ) , f ( n ) is composite for all n > 3 (and it's easily verified that f ( n ) is not positive for n < 3 ) so n = 3 is in fact the only integer that makes f ( n ) prime.
Even without a list of possible answers, for a product of two numbers to be prime, the smaller one must be equal to 1. Thus n − 2 = 1 .
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We have A = n 3 − 2 n 2 + 2 n − 4 = ( n − 2 ) ( n 2 + 2 ) . Since for all n , n − 2 < n 2 + 2 , therefore for A to be prime, n − 2 must be 1 . For n − 2 = 1 or n = 3 , n 2 + 2 = 1 1 , a prime number. Hence the only possible value of n is 3 .