With Shor's algorithm, the quantum part of the algorithm comes down to finding the period of 'a mod N' where N is the prime number you have, and a is a number l

With Shor's algorithm, the quantum part of the algorithm comes down to finding the period of 'a mod N' where N is the prime number you have, and a is a number less than N that is not a factor of N. Here, the period is the smallest value of x where 'a^x mod N = 1'. This is done applying the Quantum Fourier Tranform on each 'a^x mod N' using x+1 complex roots of unity for that value of x. You can visualise this as x+1 arrows from the centre of a unit circle with an angle 2pi/(x+1). So, for x=3 you have 4 arrows pointing up, down, left, and right. When you stack the arrows end to end, they will loop back to their starting point (3 will form a triangle, 4 a square, etc.). The key is that when multiplting this quantum fourier transform with the value of 'a^x mod N', the 1s (at the period) will occur at the same point around the unit circle only for the cases where the number of complex roots is a multiple of the period. This has the effect that for the correct answer, the arrows are lined up together in a single direction, amplifying the number and thus the probability of selecting that number. For the others, the arrows cycle and loop back on each other, so stay fairly small, decreasing the probability they will be selected.