Math Tutor Explains: What are the Factors of 237?

As your math tutor, I’m here to guide you through the different types of factors of 237. Understanding factors is key to mastering multiplication, division, and prime numbers. Here’s a breakdown:

• Factors of 237: 1, 3, 79, 237

• Sum of Factors of 237: 320

• Negative Factors of 237: -1, -3, -79, -237

• Prime Factors of 237: 3, 79

• Prime Factorization of 237: 3^1 × 79^1

There are two main ways a math tutor would explain how to find the factors of 237: using factor pairs and prime factorization. Let’s explore both!

As your math tutor, I’m here to help you break down factor pairs of 237 step by step!

Factor pairs of 237 are any two numbers that, when multiplied together, equal 237. The question to ask is “what two numbers multiplied together equal 237?” Every factor can be paired with another factor, and multiplying the two will result in 237.

To find the factor pairs of 237, follow these steps:

Step 1:

Find the smallest prime number that is larger than 1, and is a factor of 237. 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 237 by the smallest prime factor, in this case, 3:

237 ÷ 3 = 79

3 and 79 will make a new factor pair.

Step 3:

Repeat Steps 1 and 2, using 79 as the new focus. Find the smallest prime factor that isn’t 1, and divide 79 by that number. In this case, 79 is the new smallest prime factor:

79 ÷ 79 = 1

Remember that this new factor pair is only for the factors of 79, not 237. So, to finish the factor pair for 237, you’d multiply 3 and 79 before pairing with 1:

3 x 79 = 237

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 237:

(1, 237), (3, 79)

So, to list all the factors of 237: 1, 3, 79, 237

The negative factors of 237 would be: -1, -3, -79, -237

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!

To find the prime factorization of 237, we break it down step by step until only prime factors remain. Then, we express 237 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 237 only has a few differences from the above method of finding the factors of 237. 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 237:

Step 1:

Find the smallest prime number that is larger than 1, and is a factor of 237. 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 237 by the smallest prime factor, in this case, 3

237 ÷ 3 = 79

3 becomes the first number in our prime factorization.

Step 3:

Repeat Steps 1 and 2, using 79 as the new focus. Find the smallest prime factor that isn’t 1, and divide 79 by that number. The smallest prime factor you pick for 79 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 237 are: 3, 79

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

Factors of 53 - The factors of 53 are 1, 53

Factors of 49 - The factors of 49 are 1, 7, 49

Factors of 97 - The factors of 97 are 1, 97

Factors of 137 - The factors of 137 are 1, 137