MS. SUE***WHAT IS A FACTOR?
what is a factor? and can you give me an example
A factor is a number that is multiplied by another number to produce a product.
Example: 2 and 5 are factors of 10.
Check this definition for other definitions.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/factor
a factor is 1 of two numbers multiplied to get the product.
A factor, in mathematics, is a number that divides another number without leaving a remainder. In other words, it is a whole number that you can multiply with another number to get the original number. For example, let's consider the number 12. The factors of 12 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12 because when you divide 12 by any of these numbers, the result is a whole number.
To find the factors of a given number, you can follow these steps:
1. Start with the number itself and consider 1 as the first factor.
2. Divide the number by 2 and check if it leaves a remainder. If there is no remainder, then 2 is a factor.
3. Repeat the process with the next whole number (3, 4, 5, and so on) until you reach the square root of the original number. Whenever you find a factor, you should also find its corresponding factor (the number you divided by) during this process.
4. Keep track of all the factors you find along the way.
Note that square numbers have an interesting property where the square root is also a factor. For example, in the case of 12, the square root is approximately 3.46, so you would only need to check up to 3.
By following these steps, you can find the factors of any given number.