MATHINVESTIGATION

FACTORIZATIONSontheMathInvestigatordeterminesifanumberisprimeor
composite.Ifanumberiscomposite,itprintsallitsfactors,thenumberoffactors,and
itsprimefactorization.
Thenumbers1,2,4,and6have1,2,3,and4factors,respectively:1hasonly1asa
factor;2has1and2asfactors;4has1,2,and4asfactors;and6has1,2,3,and6as
factors.Thesefactorsareillustratedbytherectanglesshownhere.

StartingPointsforInvestigations
1.Printthenumbersfrom1to100todeterminetheirnumbersoffactors.Usecolored
penstomarkeachtypeofnumberhaving;exactly3factors;exactly4factors;and
exactly5factors.Lookforpatternsinthesenumbersandtheirprimefactorizations.
Formsomeconjecturesandciteevidencewhichsupportsthem.
2.Thesmallestnumbersthathave2,3,and4factorsareshowninthefollowingtable.
Findthesmallestnumbersthathave5,6,7,8,9,and10factorsandrecordthemandtheir
primefactorizations.Lookforpatternsandpredictthesmallestnumbersthatwillhave11
factors,12factors,and13factors.Testyourpredictionsandwritesomeconjectures
basedonyourobservations.

NumberofFactorsNumberPrimeFactorization
22
342x2
462x3
5
6
7
8
9
10
3.Extendtheprecedingtablebyprintingintervalsof50numbersfrom101to150;151
to200;etc.Reviseorextendyourconjecturesregardingthesmallestnumberwitha
givennumberoffactors.
4.(Optional)Describeamethodforfindingthesmallestpossiblenumberwithagiven
numberoffactors.Forexample,whatisthesmallestnumberthathasexactly200
factors?