ajnadel

var is2through9 = /[2-9]/;

var genElement = function(elm){
    var elementCount = 1;
    var lastChar = elm[elm.length-1];
    if (is2through9.test(lastChar)){
        elementCount = lastChar; /* add coefficient */
        elm = elm.slice(0, -1);
    }
    return [elementCount, elm];