Factors of 3

So you need to find the factors of 3 do you? In this quick guide we'll describe what the factors of 3 are, how you find them and list out the factor pairs of 3 for you to prove the calculation works. Let's dive in!

Want to quickly learn or show students how to find the factors of 3? Play this very quick and fun video now!

Factors of 3 Definition

When we talk about the factors of 3, what we really mean is all of the positive and negative integers (whole numbers) that can be evenly divided into 3. If you were to take 3 and divide it by one of its factors, the answer would be another factor of 3.

Let's look at how to find all of the factors of 3 and list them out.

How to Find the Factors of 3

We just said that a factor is a number that can be divided equally into 3. So the way you find and list all of the factors of 3 is to go through every number up to and including 3 and check which numbers result in an even quotient (which means no decimal place).

Doing this by hand for large numbers can be time consuming, but it's relatively easy for a computer program to do it. Our calculator has worked this out for you. Here are all of the factors of 3:

  • 3 ÷ 1 = 3
  • 3 ÷ 3 = 1

All of these factors can be used to divide 3 by and get a whole number. The full list of positive factors for 3 are:

1, and 3

Negative Factors of 3

Technically, in math you can also have negative factors of 3. If you are looking to calculate the factors of a number for homework or a test, most often the teacher or exam will be looking for specifically positive numbers.

However, we can just flip the positive numbers into negatives and those negative numbers would also be factors of 3:

-1, and -3

How Many Factors of 3 Are There?

As we can see from the calculations above there are a total of 2 positive factors for 3 and 2 negative factors for 3 for a total of 4 factors for the number 3.

There are 2 positive factors of 3 and 2 negative factors of 3. Wht are there negative numbers that can be a factor of 3?

Factor Pairs of 3

A factor pair is a combination of two factors which can be multiplied together to equal 3. For 3, all of the possible factor pairs are listed below:

  • 1 x 3 = 3

We have also written a guide that goes into a little more detail about the factor pairs for 3 in case you are interested!

Just like before, we can also list out all of the negative factor pairs for 3:

  • -1 x -3 = 3

Notice in the negative factor pairs that because we are multiplying a minus with a minus, the result is a positive number.

So there you have it. A complete guide to the factors of 3. You should now have the knowledge and skills to go out and calculate your own factors and factor pairs for any number you like.

Feel free to try the calculator below to check another number or, if you're feeling fancy, grab a pencil and paper and try and do it by hand. Just make sure to pick small numbers!

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