Q: What are the prime factors of the number 278,784?

 A: 2, 3, 11

Why are those the prime factors of the number 278,784?

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 278,784

278,784
Factor Arrows
2139,392
Factor Arrows
269,696
Factor Arrows
234,848
Factor Arrows
217,424
Factor Arrows
28,712
Factor Arrows
24,356
Factor Arrows
22,178
Factor Arrows
21,089
Factor Arrows
3363
Factor Arrows
3121
Factor Arrows
1111

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, 11

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 2 x 2 x 3 x 3 x 11 x 11 = 278,784

This can also be written as 28 x 32 x 112 = 278,784

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


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