Finding factors is very important in math. It will develop number sense, help with multiplication and division, and be beneficial when finding things like least common multiple and greatest common factor. When we get into fractions, this will be invaluable in finding common denominators.
There are many methods in finding factors and factor pairs. I have included the standard algorithm below. In order to determine if you have found all the factor pairs, you have to try every number between 1 and N ÷ 2, where N represents your original number. See the example below.
As you can see, we chose 18. So 18 ÷ 2 equals 9, so we will try all whole numbers between 1 and 9. 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9 are all called proper factors. We count 18 as a factor because of the factor pair 1 X 18. Proper factors include all whole numbers except for the number itself.
Below is an example for 36.
36 ÷ 2 = 18, so we have to try all whole number between 1 and 18. 36 is unique as it is a perfect square. As you can see 6 X 6 is a factor pair. All perfect squares will have an odd number of factors for this reason.
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