Prime factorisation
Prime factors and Prime factorisation
Prime numbers:
Prime numbers are positive integers with only two factors, 1 and itself.
The first ten prime numbers are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29.
Prime factorisation:
Express $2025$ as a product of its prime factors, leaving your answer in index notation.
Answer: $ 3^4 \times 5^2 $
Highest Common Factor (HCF), Lowest Common Multiple (LCM)
Finding HCF
Steps:
- Select the common factors
- Use only the smallest power
Example
Find the highest common factor (HCF) of $1170$ and $1485$.
Answer: $ 45 $
Finding LCM
Steps:
- Select all factors
- Use the largest power
Example
Find the lowest common multiple (LCM) of $36$, $45$ and $112$.
Answer: $ 5040 $
Perfect Square, Perfect Cube
Perfect square (or square number)
For a perfect square, the powers of each factor must be divisible by $2$.
For example, $2025 = 3^4 \times 5^2$ is a perfect square. Since the powers of the factors are $4$ and $2$ respectively, they are divisible by $2$.
Example
Find the smallest positive integer $p$ such that $1012p$ is a perfect square.
Answer: $ p = 253 $
Perfect cube (or cube number)
For a perfect cube, the powers of each factor must be divisible by $3$.
For example, $1728 = 2^6 \times 3^3 $ is a perfect square. Since the powers of the factors are $6$ and $3$ respectively, they are divisible by $3$.
Example
Find the smallest positive integer $q$ such that $3240$ is a perfect cube.
Answer: $ q = 15 $
Questions
Use prime factors to solve real-life problems
1. Meilin has $72$ one-centimetre cubes. She arranges all of them to form a solid cuboid with a square base.
The total surface area of the cuboid is $120$ cm2. The length of each side of the cuboid is an integer greater than $1$ cm.
Find the height of the cuboid.
Answer: $ 2 \text{ cm} $
HCF, LCM
2(a) Find the greatest divisor of the integers $70$ and $85$.
Answer: $ 5 $
2(b) What is the smallest positive integer that leaves no remainder when divided by $65$, $100$, or $190$?
Answer: $ 24 \phantom{.} 700 $
3. A rectangular kitchen floor measures $120$ cm by $150$ cm. You want to cover the entire floor with identical square tiles of the same size.
(a) What is the side length of the largest possible square tile you can use so that no tiles need to be cut?
Answer: $ 30 \text{ cm} $
(b) How many of those largest tiles found in part (a) that you will need to buy to cover the entire floor?
Answer: $ 20 $
4. Three different bus routes—the Red Line, the Blue Line, and the Green Line—all have their first departure from the Main Terminal at 8:00 am.
- The Red Line bus leaves every $15$ minutes.
- The Blue Line bus leaves every $20$ minutes.
- The Green Line bus leaves every $45$ minutes.
What is the earliest time after 8:00 am that all three buses will once again depart from the terminal at the exact same time?
Answer: 11.00 am
Working backwards from HCF, LCM (G3 only)
5. The highest common factor of $28$ and $x$, where $x$ is an integer, is $14$. Given that $x > 14$, find the two smallest possible value of $x$.
Answer: $ x = 42 \text{ or } 70 $
6. $x$ is an integer. The highest common factor of $x$ and $12$ is $6$. The lowest common multiple of $x$ and $12$ is $36$. Find the value of $x$.
Answer: $ x = 18 $
7. $x$ and $y$ are integers such that $x \ne y$. The highest common factor of $x$ and $y$ is $12$ while the lowest common multiple of $x$ and $y$ is $72$. Given that both $x$ and $y$ are between $20$ and $50$, find the possible value of $x$ and $y$.
Answer: $ x = 24, y = 36 \text{ (or vice versa)}$
Perfect square, Perfect cube
8(a) Using prime factorisation, explain why the integer $5184$ is a perfect square but not a perfect cube.
8(b) Find the smallest integer $k$ such that $5814k$ is both a perfect square and a perfect cube.
Answer: $ k = 9 $
8(c) Find the smallest integer $p$ such that ${5814 \over p}$ is both a perfect square and a perfect cube.
Answer: $ p = 81 $
Given that $a$ and $b$ are integers and $a > b$, find the smallest possible values of $a$ and $b$ such that ${2200a \over b}$ is a perfect square.
Answer: $ a = 11, b = 2 $
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