As your math tutor, I’m here to help you break down factor pairs of 900 step by step!
Factor pairs of 900 are any two numbers that, when multiplied together, equal 900. The question to ask is “what two numbers multiplied together equal 900?” Every factor can be paired with another factor, and multiplying the two will result in 900.
To find the factor pairs of 900, follow these steps:
Step 1:
Find the smallest prime number that is larger than 1, and is a factor of 900. 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 900 by the smallest prime factor, in this case, 2:
900 ÷ 2 = 450
2 and 450 will make a new factor pair.
Step 3:
Repeat Steps 1 and 2, using 450 as the new focus. Find the smallest prime factor that isn’t 1, and divide 450 by that number. In this case, 2 is the new smallest prime factor:
450 ÷ 2 = 225
Remember that this new factor pair is only for the factors of 450, not 900. So, to finish the factor pair for 900, you’d multiply 2 and 2 before pairing with 225:
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 900:
(1, 900), (2, 450), (3, 300), (4, 225), (5, 180), (6, 150), (9, 100), (10, 90), (12, 75), (15, 60), (18, 50), (20, 45), (25, 36), (30, 30)
So, to list all the factors of 900: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 36, 45, 50, 60, 75, 90, 100, 150, 180, 225, 300, 450, 900
The negative factors of 900 would be: -1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -6, -9, -10, -12, -15, -18, -20, -25, -30, -36, -45, -50, -60, -75, -90, -100, -150, -180, -225, -300, -450, -900
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!