Factor pairs of 76 are any two numbers that, when multiplied together, equal 76. The question to ask is “what two numbers multiplied together equal 76?” Every factor can be paired with another factor, and multiplying the two will result in 76.
To find the factor pairs of 76, follow these steps:
Step 1:
Find the smallest prime number that is larger than 1, and is a factor of 76. 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 76 by the smallest prime factor, in this case, 2:
76 ÷ 2 = 38
2 and 38 will make a new factor pair.
Step 3:
Repeat Steps 1 and 2, using 38 as the new focus. Find the smallest prime factor that isn’t 1, and divide 38 by that number. In this case, 2 is the new smallest prime factor:
38 ÷ 2 = 19
Remember that this new factor pair is only for the factors of 38, not 76. So, to finish the factor pair for 76, you’d multiply 2 and 2 before pairing with 19:
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 76:
(1, 76), (2, 38), (4, 19)
So, to list all the factors of 76: 1, 2, 4, 19, 38, 76
The negative factors of 76 would be: -1, -2, -4, -19, -38, -76