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Finding factors of a number

Sal finds the factors of 120. Created by Sal Khan and Monterey Institute for Technology and Education.

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  • starky ultimate style avatar for user Aspen
    How do you know that Something is divisible by a certain number
    (298 votes)
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    • purple pi purple style avatar for user SARAH THE AWESOME
      There is also another rule for 11.
      42 x 11 = 462
      You put the number that is on the 10's place in the factor that is being multiplied by 11 (which is 4) to the hundreds place in the multiple.
      The 2 in the factor's ones place goes into the multiple's ones place too.
      You then add the 4 and the 2 (the digits in the factor) which equals 6; 4 + 2 = 6
      The 6 then goes into the tens place of the multiple.

      P.S. This can be only used for 2 digit numbers multiplying the 11.
      (63 votes)
  • purple pi purple style avatar for user Judah Hoover
    So if you can "test" 6 by checking 2 and 3, can you test 8 by checking 2 and 4?
    (74 votes)
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  • orange juice squid orange style avatar for user beeshellaknees
    I don't get the system behind this "divisibility test..." Unless I wanted to complicate things, I can't for the love of god think of a reason to use it :/

    If 120 is divisible by 2 and 3, it is divisible by 6, but why doesn't this method work for divisibility by 8 or 9? Basically, is there a simple set of rules to quickly discover if a number is divisible by another number?

    Right now, it just looks a lot more confusing than simply doing the full calculations... If anyone can explain the simplicity behind this I would be very thankful.
    (12 votes)
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    • male robot hal style avatar for user Vivek
      I agree that right now the divisibility test seems unnecessarily complicated right now, but I can promise you that it will become extremely important with more complicated math such as simplifying square roots, prime factorization, gcf, quadratic factoring and many other fields (as prime factorization, simplifying square roots, gcf and quadratic factoring are also necessary for other topics).

      Also for the simplicity of it, you just have to memorize the ways divisibility rules (there may be a simpler way but I haven't heard of one), and if you keep practicing eventually it becomes natural and simple to perform. I can promise you that if you properly learn divisibility to rules it will be extremely helpful to you as you perform more complex math.

      For now I think you should remember that:
      Divisibility by 1: Every number is divisible by .
      Divisibility by 2: The number should have or as the units digit.
      Divisibility by 3: The sum of digits of the number must be divisible by .
      Divisibility by 4: The number formed by the tens and units digit of the number must be divisible by .
      Divisibility by 5: The number should have or as the units digit.
      Divisibility by 6: The number should be divisible by both and .
      Divisibility by 7: The absolute difference between twice the units digit and the number formed by the rest of the digits must be divisible by (this process can be repeated for many times until we arrive at a sufficiently small number).
      Divisibility by 8: The number formed by the hundreds, tens and units digit of the number must be divisible by .
      Divisibility by 9: The sum of digits of the number must be divisible by .
      Divisibility by 10: The number should have as the units digit.
      Divisibility by 11: The absolute difference between the sum of alternate pairs of digits must be divisible by .
      Divisibility by 12: The number should be divisible by both and .
      Divisibility by 13: The sum of four times the units digits with the number formed by the rest of the digits must be divisible by (this process can be repeated for many times until we arrive at a sufficiently small number).
      Divisibility by 25: The number formed by the tens and units digit of the number must be divisible by
      The divisibility rules were complied by brilliant.org and if you want the the proof of them you can check them out at this link: https://brilliant.org/wiki/proof-of-divisibility-rules/

      Just remember that even though divisibility rules don't seem helpful right now, there is a point to learning them and they will be useful in the future.
      (58 votes)
  • old spice man green style avatar for user 200612273
    do's 2.4x 5= 12
    (10 votes)
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  • winston default style avatar for user Joseph  Dunn
    can decimals be factor pairs?
    (14 votes)
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  • blobby green style avatar for user Grace Van Heeswijk
    "To figure out if something is divisible by three, you add up its digits and if the sum is divisible by three, we're in business.". Please may you share the video where this trick relating to division by three is introduced? I forgot about it.
    (19 votes)
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  • leaf green style avatar for user mathurtbrainouchurt
    what 'find all factors' of 120 mean
    what to watch before this topic
    whats 'factors' what da mean
    (10 votes)
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  • blobby green style avatar for user taevibzez
    I noticed at he mentioned long division and I'm not very good with it so what videos should I watch to help with that?
    (11 votes)
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  • winston baby style avatar for user Mason Smith
    what's the divisibility rule?
    (8 votes)
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    • blobby yellow style avatar for user TheReal3A
      From 1-10.
      2: Even - ends in a 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8.
      3: Sum of digits is divisible by 3 (this can be reran). Eg. 23553, 2+3+5+5+3=18, 1+8=9, divisible!
      4: Last 2 digits are divisible by 4. OR, n/2 is even.
      5: Ends in a 5 or 0.
      6: Even and divisible by 3.
      7: Double the last digit and subtract it from the rest of digits. The result is divisible by 7 (this can be reran). Eg. 231, 1*2 = 2, 23 - 2 = 21, divisible!
      8: Last 3 digits are divisible by 8. OR, n/2 is divisible by 4.
      9: Sum of digits is divisible by 9 (this can be reran).
      10: Ends in a 0.
      (7 votes)
  • aqualine sapling style avatar for user leah
    i don't get it
    (5 votes)
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    • duskpin tree style avatar for user Mahsina Hossain
      In math, a factor is a number that divides a given number exactly, with no remainder. Factors can also be identified as pairs of numbers that multiply together to make another number.
      For example, 2 and 3 are factors of 6 because 2 x 3 = 6. A number can have many factors. For example, 2 and 4 are factors of 8, because 4 x 2 = 8.
      Factors are always positive integers, or whole numbers. They cannot be fractions or decimals. Also, since division by 0 is undefined, 0 cannot be a factor of any number. How about you stop commenting and saying random things in the question sections and actually pay attention.
      (4 votes)

Video transcript

Find all of the factors of 120. Or another way to think about it, find all of the whole numbers that 120 is divisible by. So the first one, that's maybe obvious. All whole numbers are divisible by 1. So we could write 120 is equal to is to 1 times 120. So let's write a factors list over here. So this is going to be our factors list over here. So we just found two factors. We said, well, is it divisible by 1? Well, every whole number is divisible by 1. This is a whole number, so 1 is a factor at the low end. 1 is a factor. That's its actual smallest factor, and its largest factor is 120. You can't have something larger than 120 dividing evenly into 120. 121 will not go into 120. So the largest factor on our factors list is going to be 120. Now let's think about others. Let's think about whether is 2 divisible into 120? So there's 120 equals 2 times something? Well, when you look here, maybe you immediately recognize that 120 is an even number. It's ones place is a 0. As as long as its ones place is a 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8, as long as it's an even number, the whole number is even and the whole number is divisible by 2. And to figure out what you have to multiply by 2 to get 120, well, you can think of 120 as 12 times 10, or another way to think about it, it's 2 times 6 times 10, or 2 times 60. You could divide it out if you want. You could say, OK, 2 goes into 120. 2 goes into 1 no times. 2 goes into 12 six times. 6 times 2 is 12. Subtract. You get 0. Bring down the 0. 2 goes into 0 zero times. 0 times 2 is 0, and you get no remainder there, so it goes sixty times. So we have two more factors right here. So we have the factors. So we've established the next lowest one is 2, and the next highest factor, if we're starting from the large end, is going to be 60. Now let's think about three. Is 120 equal to 3 times something? Well, we could just try to test and divide it from the get go, but hopefully, you already know the divisibility rule. To figure out if something is divisible by 3, you add up its digits, and if the sum is divisible by 3, we're in business. So if you take 120-- let me do it over here. 1 plus 2 plus 0, well, that's equal to 1 plus 2 is 3 plus 0 is 3, and 3 is definitely divisible by 3. So 120 is going to be divisible by 3. To figure what that number that you have to multiply by 3 is, you could do it in your head. You could say, well, 3 goes into 12 four times, and then you-- well, let me just do it out, just in case, just for those of you who want to see it worked out. 3 goes into 12 four times. 4 times 3 is 12. You subtract. You're left with nothing here. You bring down this 0. 3 goes into 0 zero times. 0 times 3 is 0. Nothing left over. So it goes into it forty times. And the way to think of it in your head is this is the same thing as 12 times 10. 12 divided by 3 is 4, but this is going to be 4 times 10, because you have that 10 left over. Whatever works for you. Or you can just ignore the 0, divide by 3, you get a 4, and then put the 0 back there. Whatever works. So we have two more factors. At the low end, we have 3, and at the high end, we have a 40. Now, let's see if 4 divisible into 120. Now we saw the divisibility rule for 4 is you ignore everything beyond the tens places and you just look at the last two digits. So if we're going to to think about whether 4 is divisible, you just look at the last two digits. The last two digits are 20. 20 is definitely divisible by 4, so 120 will be divisible by 4. 4 is going to be a factor. And to figure out what we have to multiply 4 by to get 120, you could do it in your head. You could say 12 divided by 4 is 3, so 120 divided by 4 is 30. So we have two more factors: 4 and 30. And you could work this out in long division if you want to make sure that this works out, so let's keep going. And then we have 120 is equal to-- is 5 a factor? Is 5 times something equal to 120? Well, you can't do that simple-- well, first of all, we could just test is it divisible? And 120 ends with a 0. If you end with a 0 or a 5, you are divisible by 5. So 5 definitely goes into it. Let's figure out how many times. So 5 goes into 120. It doesn't go into 1. It goes into 12 two times. 2 times 5 is 10. Subtract. You get 2. Bring down the 0. 5 goes into 20 four times. 4 times 5 is 20, and then you subtract, and you have no left over, as we expect, because it should go in evenly. This number ends with a 0 or a 5. Let me delete all of this so we can have our scratch space to work with later on. So 5 times 24 is also equal to 120, we have two more factors: 5 and 24. Let me clear up some space here because I think we're going to be dealing with a lot of factors. So let me move this right here. Let me cut it and then let me paste it and move this over here so we have more space for our factors. So we have 5 and 24. Let's move on to 6. So 120 is equal to 6 times what? Now, to be divisible by 6, you have to be divisible by 2 and 3. Now, we know that we're already divisible by 2 and 3, so we're definitely going to be divisible by 6, and you should hopefully be able to do this one in your head. 5 was a little bit harder to do in your head. but 120, you could say, well, 12 divided by 6 is 2, and then you have that 0 there, so 120 divided by 6 would be 20. And you could work it out in long division if you like. So 6 times 20 are two more factors. Now let's think about 7. Let's think about 7 here. 7 is a very bizarre number, and just to test it, you could think of other ways to do it. Let's just try to divide 7 into 120. 7 doesn't go into 1. It goes into 12 one time. 1 times 7 is 7. You subtract. 12 minus 7 is 5. Bring down the 0. 7 times 7 is 49, so it goes into it seven times. 7 times 7 is 49. Subtract. You have a remainder, so it does not divide evenly. So 7 does not work. Now let's think about 8. Let's think about whether 8 works. Let's think about 8. I'll do the same process. Let's take 8 into 120. Let's just work it out. And just as a little bit of a hint-- well, I'll just work it out. 8 goes into 12-- it doesn't go into 1, so it goes into 12 one time. 1 times 8 is 8. Subtract there. 12 minus 8 is 4. Bring down the 0. 8 goes into 40 five times. 5 times 8 is 40, and you're left with no remainder, so it goes evenly. So 120-- let me get rid of that. 120 is equal to 8 times 15, so let's add that to our factor list. We now have an 8 and now we have a 15. Now, is it divisible by 9? Is 120 divisible by 9? To test that out, you just add up the digits. 1 plus 2 plus 0 is equal to 3. Well, that'll satisfy our 3 divisibility rule, but 3 is not divisible by 9, so our number will not be divisible by 9. So 9 will not work out. 9 does not work out. So let's move on to 10. Well, this is pretty straightforward. It ends in 0, so we will be divisible by 10. So let me write that down. 120 is equal to 10 times-- and this is pretty straightforward-- 10 times 12. This is exactly what 120 is. It's 10 times 12, so let's write those factors down. 10 and 12. And then we have one number left. We have 11. We don't have to go above 11, because we already went through 12, and we know that there aren't any factors above that, because we were going in descending order, so we've really filled in all the gaps. You could try 11. We could try it by hand, if you like. 11 goes into 120-- now you know, if with you know your multiplication tables through 11, that this won't work, but I'll just show you. 11 goes into 12 one time. 1 times 11 is 11. Subtract. 1, bring down the 0. 11 goes into 10 zero times. 0 times 11 is 0. you're left with a remainder of 10. So 11 goes into 20 ten times with a remainder of 10. It definitely does not go in evenly. So we have all of our factors here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 24, 30, 40, 60 and 120. And we're done!