Math Tutor Explains: What are the Factors of 261?

As your math tutor, I’m here to guide you through the different types of factors of 261. Understanding factors is key to mastering multiplication, division, and prime numbers. Here’s a breakdown:

• Factors of 261: 1, 3, 9, 29, 87, 261

• Sum of Factors of 261: 390

• Negative Factors of 261: -1, -3, -9, -29, -87, -261

• Prime Factors of 261: 3, 29

• Prime Factorization of 261: 3^2 × 29^1

There are two main ways a math tutor would explain how to find the factors of 261: 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 261 step by step!

Factor pairs of 261 are any two numbers that, when multiplied together, equal 261. The question to ask is “what two numbers multiplied together equal 261?” Every factor can be paired with another factor, and multiplying the two will result in 261.

To find the factor pairs of 261, follow these steps:

Step 1:

Find the smallest prime number that is larger than 1, and is a factor of 261. 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 261 by the smallest prime factor, in this case, 3:

261 ÷ 3 = 87

3 and 87 will make a new factor pair.

Step 3:

Repeat Steps 1 and 2, using 87 as the new focus. Find the smallest prime factor that isn’t 1, and divide 87 by that number. In this case, 3 is the new smallest prime factor:

87 ÷ 3 = 29

Remember that this new factor pair is only for the factors of 87, not 261. So, to finish the factor pair for 261, you’d multiply 3 and 3 before pairing with 29:

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 261:

(1, 261), (3, 87), (9, 29)

So, to list all the factors of 261: 1, 3, 9, 29, 87, 261

The negative factors of 261 would be: -1, -3, -9, -29, -87, -261

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 261, we break it down step by step until only prime factors remain. Then, we express 261 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 261 only has a few differences from the above method of finding the factors of 261. 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 261:

Step 1:

Find the smallest prime number that is larger than 1, and is a factor of 261. 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 261 by the smallest prime factor, in this case, 3

261 ÷ 3 = 87

3 becomes the first number in our prime factorization.

Step 3:

Repeat Steps 1 and 2, using 87 as the new focus. Find the smallest prime factor that isn’t 1, and divide 87 by that number. The smallest prime factor you pick for 87 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 261 are: 3, 29

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

Factors of 142 - The factors of 142 are 1, 2, 71, 142

Factors of 10 - The factors of 10 are 1, 2, 5, 10

Factors of 127 - The factors of 127 are 1, 127

Factors of 26 - The factors of 26 are 1, 2, 13, 26