As your math tutor, I’m here to help you break down factor pairs of 1212 step by step!
Factor pairs of 1212 are any two numbers that, when multiplied together, equal 1212. The question to ask is “what two numbers multiplied together equal 1212?” Every factor can be paired with another factor, and multiplying the two will result in 1212.
To find the factor pairs of 1212, follow these steps:
Step 1:
Find the smallest prime number that is larger than 1, and is a factor of 1212. 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 2.
Step 2:
Divide 1212 by the smallest prime factor, in this case, 2:
1212 ÷ 2 = 606
2 and 606 will make a new factor pair.
Step 3:
Repeat Steps 1 and 2, using 606 as the new focus. Find the smallest prime factor that isn’t 1, and divide 606 by that number. In this case, 2 is the new smallest prime factor:
606 ÷ 2 = 303
Remember that this new factor pair is only for the factors of 606, not 1212. So, to finish the factor pair for 1212, you’d multiply 2 and 2 before pairing with 303:
2 x 2 = 4
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 1212:
(1, 1212), (2, 606), (3, 404), (4, 303), (6, 202), (12, 101)
So, to list all the factors of 1212: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12, 101, 202, 303, 404, 606, 1212
The negative factors of 1212 would be: -1, -2, -3, -4, -6, -12, -101, -202, -303, -404, -606, -1212
Now you’ve got it! A math tutor would always encourage you to practice with different numbers to reinforce your understanding of factor pairs. Try another one!