Factor pairs of 188 are any two numbers that, when multiplied together, equal 188. The question to ask is “what two numbers multiplied together equal 188?” Every factor can be paired with another factor, and multiplying the two will result in 188.
To find the factor pairs of 188, follow these steps:
Step 1:
Find the smallest prime number that is larger than 1, and is a factor of 188. 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 188 by the smallest prime factor, in this case, 2:
188 ÷ 2 = 94
2 and 94 will make a new factor pair.
Step 3:
Repeat Steps 1 and 2, using 94 as the new focus. Find the smallest prime factor that isn’t 1, and divide 94 by that number. In this case, 2 is the new smallest prime factor:
94 ÷ 2 = 47
Remember that this new factor pair is only for the factors of 94, not 188. So, to finish the factor pair for 188, you’d multiply 2 and 2 before pairing with 47:
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 188:
(1, 188), (2, 94), (4, 47)
So, to list all the factors of 188: 1, 2, 4, 47, 94, 188
The negative factors of 188 would be: -1, -2, -4, -47, -94, -188