As your math tutor, I’m here to help you break down factor pairs of 520 step by step!
Factor pairs of 520 are any two numbers that, when multiplied together, equal 520. The question to ask is “what two numbers multiplied together equal 520?” Every factor can be paired with another factor, and multiplying the two will result in 520.
To find the factor pairs of 520, follow these steps:
Step 1:
Find the smallest prime number that is larger than 1, and is a factor of 520. 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 520 by the smallest prime factor, in this case, 2:
520 ÷ 2 = 260
2 and 260 will make a new factor pair.
Step 3:
Repeat Steps 1 and 2, using 260 as the new focus. Find the smallest prime factor that isn’t 1, and divide 260 by that number. In this case, 2 is the new smallest prime factor:
260 ÷ 2 = 130
Remember that this new factor pair is only for the factors of 260, not 520. So, to finish the factor pair for 520, you’d multiply 2 and 2 before pairing with 130:
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 520:
(1, 520), (2, 260), (4, 130), (5, 104), (8, 65), (10, 52), (13, 40), (20, 26)
So, to list all the factors of 520: 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 13, 20, 26, 40, 52, 65, 104, 130, 260, 520
The negative factors of 520 would be: -1, -2, -4, -5, -8, -10, -13, -20, -26, -40, -52, -65, -104, -130, -260, -520
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!