I'm also confused - I was taught that "divisor" is simply the number you're dividing by, it doesn't have to be a factor - having said that I also would not have listed "1" as a "factor". On 4 Feb 2014, at 18:30, Kerry Mitchell wrote:
Okay, I'll show my ignorance. What is the difference between factor and divisor? The terms are commonly used interchangeably, even at MathWorld.
Kerry
On Tue, Feb 4, 2014 at 11:22 AM, Bill Gosper <billgosper@gmail.com> wrote:
I just failed to Google up any outrage over an infuriating TV quiz show I mistakenly watched several years ago. The contestant, (former astronaut Rusty Schweikart?) sailed right through to the million dollar question without even using his two "lifelines(?)", and then was sent home penniless for not listing 1 among the "factors" of 6. I wonder if, had he mentioned 1, they would have screwed him for confusing "factors" with "divisors".
Anyway, ("drill and kill") Saxon Math is apparently using "factor" to mean divisor, presumably because it has fewer syllables:
"Write the factors of 10 that are also factors of 15."
Sounds like they are expecting a "factor" of 1. (I should've checked if they think 1 is a prime.)
In the same assignment,
"Divide 20/9. Write the quotient as a fraction." "Divide and write the quotient as a fraction: 25/6"
It would probably be less harmful if they signaled their intent with gestures and whistles, as in canine obedience school.
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