As your math tutor, I’m here to help you break down factor pairs of 2686 step by step!
Factor pairs of 2686 are any two numbers that, when multiplied together, equal 2686. The question to ask is “what two numbers multiplied together equal 2686?” Every factor can be paired with another factor, and multiplying the two will result in 2686.
To find the factor pairs of 2686, follow these steps:
Step 1:
Find the smallest prime number that is larger than 1, and is a factor of 2686. 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 2686 by the smallest prime factor, in this case, 2:
2686 ÷ 2 = 1343
2 and 1343 will make a new factor pair.
Step 3:
Repeat Steps 1 and 2, using 1343 as the new focus. Find the smallest prime factor that isn’t 1, and divide 1343 by that number. In this case, 17 is the new smallest prime factor:
1343 ÷ 17 = 79
Remember that this new factor pair is only for the factors of 1343, not 2686. So, to finish the factor pair for 2686, you’d multiply 2 and 17 before pairing with 79:
2 x 17 = 34
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 2686:
(1, 2686), (2, 1343), (17, 158), (34, 79)
So, to list all the factors of 2686: 1, 2, 17, 34, 79, 158, 1343, 2686
The negative factors of 2686 would be: -1, -2, -17, -34, -79, -158, -1343, -2686
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!