As your math tutor, I’m here to help you break down factor pairs of 260 step by step!
Factor pairs of 260 are any two numbers that, when multiplied together, equal 260. The question to ask is “what two numbers multiplied together equal 260?” Every factor can be paired with another factor, and multiplying the two will result in 260.
To find the factor pairs of 260, follow these steps:
Step 1:
Find the smallest prime number that is larger than 1, and is a factor of 260. 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 260 by the smallest prime factor, in this case, 2:
260 ÷ 2 = 130
2 and 130 will make a new factor pair.
Step 3:
Repeat Steps 1 and 2, using 130 as the new focus. Find the smallest prime factor that isn’t 1, and divide 130 by that number. In this case, 2 is the new smallest prime factor:
130 ÷ 2 = 65
Remember that this new factor pair is only for the factors of 130, not 260. So, to finish the factor pair for 260, you’d multiply 2 and 2 before pairing with 65:
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 260:
(1, 260), (2, 130), (4, 65), (5, 52), (10, 26), (13, 20)
So, to list all the factors of 260: 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 13, 20, 26, 52, 65, 130, 260
The negative factors of 260 would be: -1, -2, -4, -5, -10, -13, -20, -26, -52, -65, -130, -260
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!