Factor pairs of 115 are any two numbers that, when multiplied together, equal 115. The question to ask is “what two numbers multiplied together equal 115?” Every factor can be paired with another factor, and multiplying the two will result in 115.
To find the factor pairs of 115, follow these steps:
Step 1:
Find the smallest prime number that is larger than 1, and is a factor of 115. For reference, the first prime numbers to check are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, and 13. In this case, the smallest factor that’s a prime number larger than 1 is 5.
Step 2:
Divide 115 by the smallest prime factor, in this case, 5:
115 ÷ 5 = 23
5 and 23 will make a new factor pair.
Step 3:
Repeat Steps 1 and 2, using 23 as the new focus. Find the smallest prime factor that isn’t 1, and divide 23 by that number. In this case, 23 is the new smallest prime factor:
23 ÷ 23 = 1
Remember that this new factor pair is only for the factors of 23, not 115. So, to finish the factor pair for 115, you’d multiply 5 and 23 before pairing with 1:
5 x 23 = 115
Step 4:
Repeat this process until there are no longer any prime factors larger than one to divide by. At the end, you should have the full list of factor pairs.
Here are all the factor pairs for 115:
(1, 115), (5, 23)
So, to list all the factors of 115: 1, 5, 23, 115
The negative factors of 115 would be: -1, -5, -23, -115