Q: What are the prime factors of the number 278,847,872?

 A: 2, 17, 128147

Why are those the prime factors of the number 278,847,872?

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 278,847,872

278,847,872
Factor Arrows
2139,423,936
Factor Arrows
269,711,968
Factor Arrows
234,855,984
Factor Arrows
217,427,992
Factor Arrows
28,713,996
Factor Arrows
24,356,998
Factor Arrows
22,178,499
Factor Arrows
17128,147

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, 17, 128147

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 17 x 128,147 = 278,847,872

This can also be written as 27 x 171 x 128,1471 = 278,847,872

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


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