factors

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by sudhir3127 » Tue Aug 05, 2008 5:48 am
i would say 25..

36^2 cab be written as 3^4* 2^4

hence the number of factors are (4+1) * (4+1) = 25..

let me know the OA.

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by dago » Tue Aug 05, 2008 9:45 am
i understand this: 36^2 cab be written as 3^4* 2^4

but how do you go from there and arrive at the answer 25???

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by LSB » Wed Aug 06, 2008 10:42 am
I have the same question as Dago. Thanks

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by parallel_chase » Wed Aug 06, 2008 11:44 am
There is rule to find the factors of any integer.

Suppose you need to find the number of factors for 20

First prime factorize

20 = 2*2*5 = 2^2 * 5^1

now just look at the exponents of two prime factors, you add 1 to each power and then multiply with each other

(2+1)*(1+1) = 3*2= 6

20 has 6 factors

1,2,4,5,10,20.

Similarly for 36^2 = 2^4 * 3^4

(4+1)*(4+1) = 5*5 =25

Hope its clear now.

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by LSB » Wed Aug 06, 2008 12:05 pm
Thank you. Makes sense now.

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by uncbeers » Wed Aug 06, 2008 12:18 pm
parallel_chase wrote:There is rule to find the factors of any integer.

Suppose you need to find the number of factors for 20

First prime factorize

20 = 2*2*5 = 2^2 * 5^1

now just look at the exponents of two prime factors, you add 1 to each power and then multiply with each other

(2+1)*(1+1) = 3*2= 6

20 has 6 factors

1,2,4,5,10,20.

Similarly for 36^2 = 2^4 * 3^4

(4+1)*(4+1) = 5*5 =25

Hope its clear now.
Great trick-thanks for that! Is there a similar trick if it were to ask for prime factors only?