For example, 18 is practical because every smaller number can be written as a sum of its proper divisors, 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, like 13=1+3+9.
Steward and SierpiĆski have characterized completely the set of practical numbers as follows. A number 1$">, whose prime factorization is is a practical number if and only if it is even (i.e., ) and, for every , it holds
where denotes the sum of divisors of .The first practical numbers are 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 18, 20, 24, 28, 30, 32, 36, 40, 42, 48, 54, 56, 60, 64, 66, 72, 78, 80, 84, 88, 90, 96, 100, 104, 108, 112, 120, 126, 128, 132, 140, 144, 150, 156, 160 more terms
Below, the spiral pattern of practical numbers up to . See the page on prime numbers for an explanation and links to similar pictures.