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Most people know that 378 is a composite number because it’s obviously divisible by 2, but I know that 378 is a composite number because 18 x 21 = 378. I didn’t use a calculator or multiply 18 and 21 by hand. I know this multiplication fact because I can see a pattern, because 18 + 3 = 21 and because SUBTRACTING 2 from a number is easy.
“What is this pattern?” you ask. Here it is. Do you see the pattern, too?
The pattern looks like this on the multiplication table:
So how did I know that 18 x 21 = 378? I knew because I can easily compute 19 x 20 = 380 in my head, and 380 – 2 = 378.
What is all the factoring information for 378?
- 378 is a composite number.
- Prime factorization: 378 = 2 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 7, which can be written 378 = 2 x (3^3) x 7
- The exponents in the prime factorization are 1, 3, and 1. Adding one to each and multiplying we get (1 + 1)(3 + 1)(1 + 1) = 2 x 4 x 2 = 16. Therefore 378 has exactly 16 factors.
- Factors of 378: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 14, 18, 21, 27, 42, 54, 63, 126, 189, 378
- Factor pairs: 378 = 1 x 378, 2 x 189, 3 x 126, 6 x 63, 7 x 54, 9 x 42, 14 x 27, or 18 x 21
- Taking the factor pair with the largest square number factor, we get √378 = (√9)(√42) = 3√42 ≈ 18.442
