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#1 2008-09-08 13:29:40
- janette diaz
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- Registered: 2008-09-08
- Posts: 1
proper factor
My daughter have a homework of inter-math . she was on 6 grade and I dont understand this: Why is the set of factors of a number not the same as the set of proper factors of that number? Explain and give example.
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#2 2008-09-08 17:56:20
- MathsIsFun
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- Registered: 2005-01-21
- Posts: 7,713
Re: proper factor
The "proper factors" are the factors other than the number itself. Sometimes 1 is also excluded.
Factors of 12: 1,2,3,4,6,12
Proper Factors of 12: 1,2,3,4,6
"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..." - Leon M. Lederman
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#3 2008-09-09 03:02:28
- JaneFairfax
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- Registered: 2007-02-23
- Posts: 6,868
Re: proper factor
MathsIsFun wrote:
Sometimes 1 is also excluded.
Sometimes 1 is called the trivial factor. 
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