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Last updated on January 7th, 2025
A factor of a number is any whole number that divides it completely, leaving no remainder. The concept of factors is used in many real-life situations. For e.g., distributing resources or time slots evenly among teams or participants.
Factors often come in pairs. There are several methods to figure them out, which you'll be learning about in a second. For now, let's just focus on the factors of 120, which are mentioned below:
Negative factors of 120: -1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -6, -8, -10, -12, -15, -20, -24, -30, -40, -60, -120
Prime factors of 120: 2, 3, 5
Prime factorization of 120: 23 × 31 × 51
The sum of factors of 120: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 8 + 10 + 12 + 15 + 20 + 24 + 30 + 40 + 60 + 120 = 360
For finding factors, school kids use different methods for easy calculation. A few commonly used methods are as follows:
So, here we discuss a detailed explanation of the following methods:
In the multiplication method, we will try to find out what numbers will multiply together, and give us the value 120. We will check the factors step by step:
Step 1: Start to multiply with numbers, which gives the value of 120.
Start with 1, and continue to multiply with other numbers.
1 × 120= 120
2 × 60 = 120
3 × 40 = 120
4 × 30 = 120
5 × 24 = 120
6 × 20 = 120
8 × 15 = 120
10 × 12=120
Step 2: After the calculation, we get these numbers, the factors of 120.
Step 3: The positive factor pairs of 120 found through multiplication are(1,120), (2,60), (3,40), (4,30), (5,24), (6,20), (8,15), and (10,12).
Step 4: The negative factor pairs of 120 are (-1,-120), (-2,-60), (-3,-40), (-4,-30), (-5,-24), (-6,-20), (-8,-15), and (-10,-12).
Using this method we will break down the given number till our remainder is zero. Let us go through the step-by-step process to find the factors of 120:
Step 1: Divide 120 by smaller numbers and see if there is any remainder. E.g., 120/1 = 120.
Step 2: We will continue in the same way and check for other numbers as well. For 120, the factors are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 24, 30, 40, 60 and 120. Because 120 can be divided evenly by these numbers.
The prime factors of 120 are 2, 3, and 5. The prime factors can be found using the methods given below:
By Using Prime Factorization: It is a method in which we break down a number into its prime factors.
2 is the smallest prime number, so start dividing by two. And then continue to divide with other prime numbers until the quotient is 1.
120 ÷ 2 = 60
60 ÷ 2 = 30
30 ÷ 2 = 15
15 ÷ 3 = 5
5 ÷ 5 = 1
The prime factorization of 120 is:
120 = 23 × 3 × 51
With prime factorization, 120 can be broken down into prime factors, 2, 3, and 5
A factor tree is a visual representation of breaking a number into its prime factors. It is an easy and simple way to present the factors.
Step 1: 120 divided by 2 gives us the quotient 60
Step 2: Since 60 is not a prime number, it can be divided further.
The prime factorization of 120 is written below :
120 = 23 × 31 × 51
Every number has either a positive or negative factor. Let us look at those sets of factors.
Positive pair Factors: (1,120), (2,60), (3,40), (4,30), (5,24), (6,20), (8,15), and (10,12).
Negative pair Factors: (-1,-120), (-2,-60), (-3,-40), (-4,-30), (-5,-24), (-6,-20), (-8,-15), and (-10,-12).
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Hiralee Lalitkumar Makwana has almost two years of teaching experience. She is a number ninja as she loves numbers. Her interest in numbers can be seen in the way she cracks math puzzles and hidden patterns.
: She loves to read number jokes and games.