As your math tutor, I’m here to help you break down factor pairs of 742 step by step!
Factor pairs of 742 are any two numbers that, when multiplied together, equal 742. The question to ask is “what two numbers multiplied together equal 742?” Every factor can be paired with another factor, and multiplying the two will result in 742.
To find the factor pairs of 742, follow these steps:
Step 1:
Find the smallest prime number that is larger than 1, and is a factor of 742. 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 742 by the smallest prime factor, in this case, 2:
742 ÷ 2 = 371
2 and 371 will make a new factor pair.
Step 3:
Repeat Steps 1 and 2, using 371 as the new focus. Find the smallest prime factor that isn’t 1, and divide 371 by that number. In this case, 7 is the new smallest prime factor:
371 ÷ 7 = 53
Remember that this new factor pair is only for the factors of 371, not 742. So, to finish the factor pair for 742, you’d multiply 2 and 7 before pairing with 53:
2 x 7 = 14
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 742:
(1, 742), (2, 371), (7, 106), (14, 53)
So, to list all the factors of 742: 1, 2, 7, 14, 53, 106, 371, 742
The negative factors of 742 would be: -1, -2, -7, -14, -53, -106, -371, -742
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!