16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being 1, 2, 4 and 8.
In speech, the numbers 16 and 60 are often confused. When carefully enunciated, they differ in which syllable is stressed: 16 /sɪksˈtiːn/ vs 60 /ˈsɪksti/. However, in dates such as 1666 or when contrasting numbers in the teens, such as 15, 16, 17, the stress shifts to the first syllable: 16 /ˈsɪkstiːn/.
Sixteen is the fourth power of two. For this reason, 16 was used in weighing light objects in several cultures. The British have 16 ounces in one pound; the Chinese used to have 16 liangs in one jin. In old days, weighing was done with a beam balance to make equal splits. It would be easier to split a heap of grains into sixteen equal parts through successive divisions than to split into ten parts. Chinese Taoists did finger computation on the trigrams and hexagrams by counting the finger tips and joints of the fingers with the tip of the thumb. Each hand can count up to 16 in such manner. The Chinese abacus uses two upper beads to represent the 5s and 5 lower beads to represent the 1s, the 7 beads can represent a hexadecimal digit from 0 to 15 in each column. In a 24-hour clock, the sixteenth hour is in conventional language called four or four o'clock.
As a power of 2 it has an aliquot sum one less than itself, 15; and is the fifth composite member of the 3-aliquot tree having the 7 member aliquot sequence (16, 15, 9, 4, 3, 1, 0).
Sixteen is the first number to be the aliquot sum of a lesser number, 12; it is also the aliquot sum of the greater number; the discrete semiprime, 26. It is the fourth power of two.
Sixteen is the only integer that equals mn and nm, for some unequal integers m and n (m = 4, n = 2, or vice versa). It has this property because 22 = 2 × 2. It is also equal to 32 (see tetration).
15 and 16 form a Ruth–Aaron pair under the second definition in which repeated prime factors are counted as often as they occur.
Since it is possible to find sequences of 16 consecutive integers such that each inner member shares a factor with either the first or the last member, 16 is an Erdős–Woods number. The smallest such range of 16 consecutive integers is from 2184 to 2200.
In bases 20, 24 and 30, sixteen is a 1-automorphic number (displayed as the numeral 'G').
16 is a centered pentagonal number.
16 is the base of the hexadecimal number system, which is used extensively in computer science.
16 appears in the Padovan sequence, preceded by the terms 7, 9, 12 (it is the sum of the first two of these).
The atomic number of sulfur
Group 16 of the periodic table are the chalcogens
In Spanish and Portuguese, 16 is the first compound number (Spanish: dieciséis, European Portuguese: dezasseis, Brazilian Portuguese: dezesseis); the numbers 11 (Spanish: once, Portuguese: onze) through 15 (Spanish: quince, Portuguese: quinze) have their own names.
Sixteen is the minimum age for being allowed an official beginner's driver's license with parental consent in many U.S. states and in Canada. In Australia, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway and the Isle of Man, it is the age one can begin to get a learner's license.
A "sweet sixteen" is celebrated by many 16-year-old girls in the United States. It is a coming of age celebration that traditionally marks a girl's transition into womanhood. For its significance, this "coming of age" has inspired the titles of many songs, such as "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen", "You're Sixteen", "Sweet Sixteen", "U16 Girls" "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Sixteen Candles"
In some states in the U.S., and all provinces in Canada, excluding Alberta and Saskatchewan, 16 is the age one can obtain a learner's permit to learn to drive a motor vehicle
Sixteen is the minimum age for getting an adult job in most states and provinces across the globe
Sixteen is the minimum age that one can drop out of school in many states of the United States and Canada (however, restrictions apply and vary depending on state or province)
In the United States, female 16-year-olds earn the right to privacy laws surrounding OBGYN practices
In Belgium, Switzerland and Italy, it is the legal minimum age for a person to purchase any tobacco product
In the United States and Canada, 16 is the most common age of sexual consent, as well as in the United Kingdom.
Sixteen is the minimum age to get married, with parental consent in many countries, and without parental consent in Scotland
Sixteen is the legal drinking age in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Portugal
Minimum age at which one can buy, rent, purchase, buy tickets to, or view a 16+ rated movie in the province of Quebec. It is also the minimum age at which one can accompany a minor under 13 while buying, renting, or purchasing tickets to a 13+ rated movie in the province of Quebec
Minimum age at which one can donate blood with parental consent in many states
Minimum age at which one can obtain a 10-year passport in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia
Minimum age at which one can join the Armed Forces in the United Kingdom (deployment is only allowed at 18)
Voting age in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, the Isle of Man and Nicaragua, and during the 19th century, in the Transvaal Republic
The number of regular-season games that each NFL team currently plays
The number of teams that qualified for the finals of the FIFA World Cup from 1934 through 1978 (although for various reasons, only 15 competed in the 1938 and 1950 finals)
The number of teams that qualified for the finals of the FIFA Women's World Cup from 1999 through 2011
The number of a car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Run by Roush Fenway Racing and its predecessor, Roush Racing, from 1992–2000 and 2002–present. Since the car's return to the Cup Series, it has been driven by Greg Biffle.
As of the 2014 season, the number of drivers that qualify for NASCAR's season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup.
From 1998 through 2012, the National League of Major League Baseball has had 16 teams
Since adopting its current 15-team format in 2011, Super Rugby has conducted a 16-game regular season.
The NBA and NHL operate four best-of-seven series during the playoffs. Thus, 16 is the required number of wins a team must get to be crowned champions.
The jersey number 16 has been retired by several North American sports teams in honor of past playing greats:
In Major League Baseball:
The Chicago White Sox, for Hall of Famer Ted Lyons
The Detroit Tigers, for Hall of Famer Hal Newhouser
The Miami Marlins, for former pitcher José Fernández after his death
The New York Yankees, for Hall of Famer Whitey Ford
In the NFL:
The Kansas City Chiefs, for Hall of Famer Len Dawson
The New York Giants, for Hall of Famer Frank Gifford
The San Francisco 49ers, for Hall of Famer Joe Montana
In the NBA:
The Boston Celtics, for Satch Sanders, a member of the Hall of Fame as a contributor to the sport
The Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks, both for Hall of Fame player Bob Lanier
The Golden State Warriors, for Al Attles
In the NHL:
The Buffalo Sabres, for Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine
The Los Angeles Kings, for Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne
The Montreal Canadiens, first for Hall of Famer Henri Richard and later for a second Hall of Famer, Elmer Lach
The Philadelphia Flyers, for Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke
The St. Louis Blues, for Hall of Famer Brett Hull
The Vancouver Canucks, for Trevor Linden
In U.S. college athletics, the number has also been retired by the football program of the University of Tennessee for Peyton Manning
16 steps make up the average bar of music in a 4/4 musical arrangement. The Roland TR-808, for instance, has 16 buttons that light up representing 16 16th notes making up a drum pattern.
Sixteen, Kentucky, a community in the United States
King of France (August 1754 – 21 January 1793) Louis XVI of France
There are 16 ounces in an avoirdupois pound
There are 16 pawns in a chess set and each player in a chess game starts with sixteen pieces
"The Sixteen" is an English choir performing early religious music
Sixteen is a Polish band that represented Poland in the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest
The Cadillac Sixteen
There are 16 different personality types in the Myers-Briggs classification system
A note played for one-sixteenth the duration of a whole note is called a sixteenth note or a semiquaver
In the 16-bit era, 16-bit microprocessor ran 16-bit applications
Sixteen Kingdoms, part of Chinese history
Canada's Yellowhead Highway is designated as Highway 16
Interstate 16 is the designation for a US interstate highway in Georgia
The fighter jet, the F-16 Fighting Falcon
16 mm film was originally an amateur movie format, but is now used by professionals
"16" is a song by American band Green Day
The M16 rifle
The number 16 is the symbol of the Day of solidarity with political prisoners and victims of the Lukashenka regime in Belarus, which is commemorated on 16th of every months by demonstrations and flash mobs worldwide
A sixteen is a slang term for a verse in a hip hop song, which are often written in 16-bar stanzas.
Android 16, a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga series
The amount of waking hours in a day in an "8 hours of sleep" schedule
In the story of the Sleeping Beauty, a spell is placed on the princess that when she reaches her 16th birthday, she will "prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die"
16 is the number of the French department Charente
Many bank card numbers are 16 digits long
There is a No Doubt song titled "Sixteen" on the album Tragic Kingdom
There are 16 racetracks in Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
The metalcore band Demon Hunter has a song titled "Sixteen" on their Storm the Gates of Hell album
16 is the number printed on the front of the Johnny Hero -one of the earliest action figures- jogging suit
In Belgium, 16 is colloquially used to refer to the Belgian government or Prime Minister, especially in media, because of the official seat of the Belgian federal government being located on 16, rue de la Loi in Brussels. The full address is also sometimes used, in a similar way as 10, Downing Street in England.
