Math Tutor Explains: What are the Factors of 162?

As your math tutor, I’m here to help you understand factors! The factors of 162 are any whole numbers that can be multiplied together to equal exactly 162. In other words, finding the factors of 162 is like breaking it down into all the smaller numbers that, when multiplied, give you 162. Let’s explore this step by step!

Factors of 162: As Taught by a Math Tutor

Methods

What are the Factors of 162?

As your math tutor, I’m here to guide you through the different types of factors of 162. Understanding factors is key to mastering multiplication, division, and prime numbers. Here’s a breakdown:

• Factors of 162: 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18, 27, 54, 81, 162

• Sum of Factors of 162: 363

• Negative Factors of 162: -1, -2, -3, -6, -9, -18, -27, -54, -81, -162

• Prime Factors of 162: 2, 3

• Prime Factorization of 162: 2^1 × 3^4

There are two main ways a math tutor would explain how to find the factors of 162: using factor pairs and prime factorization. Let’s explore both!

The Factor Pairs of 162

As your math tutor, I’m here to help you break down factor pairs of 162 step by step!

Factor pairs of 162 are any two numbers that, when multiplied together, equal 162. The question to ask is “what two numbers multiplied together equal 162?” Every factor can be paired with another factor, and multiplying the two will result in 162.

To find the factor pairs of 162, follow these steps:

Step 1:

Find the smallest prime number that is larger than 1, and is a factor of 162. 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 162 by the smallest prime factor, in this case, 2:

162 ÷ 2 = 81

2 and 81 will make a new factor pair.

Step 3:

Repeat Steps 1 and 2, using 81 as the new focus. Find the smallest prime factor that isn’t 1, and divide 81 by that number. In this case, 3 is the new smallest prime factor:

81 ÷ 3 = 27

Remember that this new factor pair is only for the factors of 81, not 162. So, to finish the factor pair for 162, you’d multiply 2 and 3 before pairing with 27:

2 x 3 = 6

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 162:

(1, 162), (2, 81), (3, 54), (6, 27), (9, 18)

So, to list all the factors of 162: 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18, 27, 54, 81, 162

The negative factors of 162 would be: -1, -2, -3, -6, -9, -18, -27, -54, -81, -162

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!

Prime Factorization of 162

To find the prime factorization of 162, we break it down step by step until only prime factors remain. Then, we express 162 as a product of these prime factors multiplied together. Let’s go through the process and simplify it like a math tutor would!

The process of finding the prime factorization of 162 only has a few differences from the above method of finding the factors of 162. Instead of ensuring we find the right factor pairs, we continue to factor each step until we are left with only the list of smallest prime factors greater than 1.

Here are the steps for finding the prime factorization of 162:

Step 1:

Find the smallest prime number that is larger than 1, and is a factor of 162. 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 162 by the smallest prime factor, in this case, 2

162 ÷ 2 = 81

2 becomes the first number in our prime factorization.

Step 3:

Repeat Steps 1 and 2, using 81 as the new focus. Find the smallest prime factor that isn’t 1, and divide 81 by that number. The smallest prime factor you pick for 81 will then be the next prime factor. If you keep repeating this process, there will be a point where there will be no more prime factors left, which leaves you with the prime factors for prime factorization.

So, the unique prime factors of 162 are: 2, 3

Math Tutor Suggests: Find the Factors of Other Numbers

Practice your factoring skills by exploring how to factor other numbers, like the ones below:

Factors of 79 - The factors of 79 are 1, 79

Factors of 60 - The factors of 60 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, 60

Factors of 87 - The factors of 87 are 1, 3, 29, 87

Factors of 80 - The factors of 80 are 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 40, 80

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