Q: What are the prime factors of the number 236,196?

 A: 2, 3

Why are those the prime factors of the number 236,196?

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 236,196

236,196
Factor Arrows
2118,098
Factor Arrows
259,049
Factor Arrows
319,683
Factor Arrows
36,561
Factor Arrows
32,187
Factor Arrows
3729
Factor Arrows
3243
Factor Arrows
381
Factor Arrows
327
Factor Arrows
39
Factor Arrows
33

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

We can check our work by multiplying all of the prime factors together: 2 x 2 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 = 236,196

This can also be written as 22 x 310 = 236,196

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


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