Factor pairs of 99 are any two numbers that, when multiplied together, equal 99. The question to ask is “what two numbers multiplied together equal 99?” Every factor can be paired with another factor, and multiplying the two will result in 99.
To find the factor pairs of 99, follow these steps:
Step 1:
Find the smallest prime number that is larger than 1, and is a factor of 99. 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 3.
Step 2:
Divide 99 by the smallest prime factor, in this case, 3:
99 ÷ 3 = 33
3 and 33 will make a new factor pair.
Step 3:
Repeat Steps 1 and 2, using 33 as the new focus. Find the smallest prime factor that isn’t 1, and divide 33 by that number. In this case, 3 is the new smallest prime factor:
33 ÷ 3 = 11
Remember that this new factor pair is only for the factors of 33, not 99. So, to finish the factor pair for 99, you’d multiply 3 and 3 before pairing with 11:
3 x 3 = 9
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 99:
(1, 99), (3, 33), (9, 11)
So, to list all the factors of 99: 1, 3, 9, 11, 33, 99
The negative factors of 99 would be: -1, -3, -9, -11, -33, -99