• 61 is a prime number.
• Prime factorization: 61 is prime.
• The exponent of prime number 61 is 1. Adding 1 to that exponent we get (1 + 1) = 2. Therefore 61 has exactly 2 factors.
• Factors of 61: 1, 61
• Factor pairs: 61 = 1 x 61
• 61 has no square factors that allow its square root to be simplified. √61 ≈ 7.8102

How do we know that 61 is a prime number? If 61 were not a prime number, then it would be divisible by at least one prime number less than or equal to √61 ≈ 7.8. Since 61 cannot be divided evenly by 2, 3, 5, or 7, we know that 61 is a prime number.

61 is never a clue in the FIND THE FACTORS puzzles.

Wedding Bells are Going to Chime

My daughter is getting married in early March, and family will be coming in from out of town. I also need to study for a test at work. There is so much that needs to get done that hasn’t been getting done. I’m taking a month-long break from daily blogging and a few other things so I can catch up on the things that just can’t wait. 

Over the last several weeks there has been several new people who have found this blog and have done some of the puzzles. Some of them have clicked on the older excel files to work on puzzles. All that clicking was probably inconvenient, but several people have still clicked anyway. Thank you for your interest and persistence. I want to make it easier to catch up on all those old puzzles.

To make it easier to access the older puzzles, I’ve put all previously published FIND THE FACTORS 1-10 and 1-12 puzzles in one excel file, All Previously Published Puzzles. The formatting isn’t printer friendly, but if you enable editing, you can type the factors directly onto the excel file. The answers are also in the file for easy comparison with your work. (Hopefully, I didn’t mess up any of the clues while I hurriedly created this large file. Please, tell me if you find any errors.)

While I catch up on all the things I need to do, I hope you will catch up a few things as well.