As your math tutor, I’m here to help you break down factor pairs of 402 step by step!
Factor pairs of 402 are any two numbers that, when multiplied together, equal 402. The question to ask is “what two numbers multiplied together equal 402?” Every factor can be paired with another factor, and multiplying the two will result in 402.
To find the factor pairs of 402, follow these steps:
Step 1:
Find the smallest prime number that is larger than 1, and is a factor of 402. 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 402 by the smallest prime factor, in this case, 2:
402 ÷ 2 = 201
2 and 201 will make a new factor pair.
Step 3:
Repeat Steps 1 and 2, using 201 as the new focus. Find the smallest prime factor that isn’t 1, and divide 201 by that number. In this case, 3 is the new smallest prime factor:
201 ÷ 3 = 67
Remember that this new factor pair is only for the factors of 201, not 402. So, to finish the factor pair for 402, you’d multiply 2 and 3 before pairing with 67:
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 402:
(1, 402), (2, 201), (3, 134), (6, 67)
So, to list all the factors of 402: 1, 2, 3, 6, 67, 134, 201, 402
The negative factors of 402 would be: -1, -2, -3, -6, -67, -134, -201, -402
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!