How do we find divisors of a number? For example, how do we calculate the number of divisors of 900?
Answer: 900 = 22 × 32 × 52. Therefore, any number that is a factor of 900 can have powers of 2 equal to 20, 21 or 22. Similarly, for 3, the powers can be 30, 31, or 32 and for 5 they will be 50, 51, or 52. Writing the powers in a line we have-
Now any combination of a power of 2, a power of 3, and a power of 5 will give us a divisor. For example, in the figure, 21 × 32 × 51 will be a divisor of 900. As we can select a power of 2 in 3 ways, a power of 3 in 3 ways, and a power of 5 in 3 ways, the total number of combinations will be 3 × 3 × 3 = 27. Therefore, the number of divisors of 900 is 27.