Editor’s Note: Math Made Easy is a new series by Apeejay Newsroom where experts share study tips and fun ways to learn the subject. This is part VI of the series. Read part VI here; part V here; part IV here; part III here; part II here; part I here.
We have all heard parents lament: ‘My child is very good in studies if only he would understand Math’. We have also heard common questions that students ask: ‘Why do I find math so difficult’?
Believe it or not, Math is considered to be the least favourite subject in all of academics! A vast majority of students struggle to solve even the most basic calculations. The more they struggle the more apprehensive they are of the subject and the tougher they find Math.
Last year, a survey was done by Cuemath, (an after-school live-class programme in Math) of classes VII to X; the sample size was 1,600 students. It found that 82 per cent were fearful of this subject.
Only two in 10 students were confident about their Math ability. Students of classes VII-IX find Algebra and Mensuration difficult, whereas Geometry adds to their worries in Class X. As for class VIII students, it’s applied Math (37.10 per cent) that keeps them awake at night. However, the survey found that students of classes VII-VIII find the magic in numbers attractive, and as they move to senior classes, this translates into their fondness for Statistics and Applied Math.
Rinki Verma, a Math teacher at Apeejay School, Noida in Uttar Pradesh opines that while practice makes you perfect and this adage is true for Math, it is also true that the concept of this subject need to be clear from the very start and students must be taught these in depth.
“If a student has an in-depth knowledge of this subject, there is no other subject like this. There is so much fun when it comes to solving a Math problem. And the best part is that if you get stuck on a sum, you won’t get up till you have arrived at the correct answer,” Verma said.
What is a factor of a given number?
It is numbers that divide the original number evenly or exactly. A factor can’t be in a fraction. A prime number will have only two factors — 1 and the number itself. On the other hand, composite numbers will have more than two factors; this will include prime factors as well.
For example:
Factors of 2 (prime number) are 1 and 2
Factors of 10 (composite number) are 1, 2, 5 and 10
But what if the numbers are large? In such a case how do we find the number of factors of a given number? Verma shared a trick to find the same.
1. It all starts by first writing the prime factorisation of a number.
2. Next, write the prime factorization in exponential form.
3. Add 1 to each exponent and multiply the modified exponents.
4. The product that one gets from step 3 gives the number of factors of the given number.
Here is an example: Find the number of factors of 144
1. 144 = 2×2×2×2×3×3
2. 144 = 16 × 9 or 2 raise to the power 4 and 3 raise to the power 2
3. (4+1) × (2+1)
4. 5 × 3 = 15
Therefore, the number of factors for 144 is 15.
Take another example: Find the number of factors of 200
1. 200 = 2x2x2x5x5
2. 200 = 8 x 25 or 2 raise to the power 3 and 5 raise to the power 2
3. (3 +1) x (2 + 1)
4. 4 x 3 = 12 Therefore, the number of factors for 200 is 12.
“There is so much fun when it comes to solving a Math problem. And the best part is that if you get stuck on a sum, you won’t get up till you have arrived at the correct answer“
–Rinki Verma, Math Teacher at Apeejay School, Noida