Q: What are the prime factors of the number 17,472?

 A: 2, 3, 7, 13

Why are those the prime factors of the number 17,472?

Prime factors are the prime numbers that can be multipled together to equal the original number. You find the factors by dividing by prime numbers. It is best shown by creating a Factor Tree.

Factor Tree for the number 17,472

17,472
Factor Arrows
28,736
Factor Arrows
24,368
Factor Arrows
22,184
Factor Arrows
21,092
Factor Arrows
2546
Factor Arrows
2273
Factor Arrows
391
Factor Arrows
713

The numbers in bold above are the prime factors. If there are multiples, you only count them one time. This leads us to our prime factors of:

2, 3, 7, 13

We can check our work by multiplying all of the prime factors together: 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 x 7 x 13 = 17,472

This can also be written as 26 x 31 x 71 x 131 = 17,472

If you would like to know more, or need additional explanation, please review our prime factorization explanation.


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