Q: What are the prime factors of the number 31,680?

 A: 2, 3, 5, 11

Why are those the prime factors of the number 31,680?

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 31,680

31,680
Factor Arrows
215,840
Factor Arrows
27,920
Factor Arrows
23,960
Factor Arrows
21,980
Factor Arrows
2990
Factor Arrows
2495
Factor Arrows
3165
Factor Arrows
355
Factor Arrows
511

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, 5, 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 3 x 3 x 5 x 11 = 31,680

This can also be written as 26 x 32 x 51 x 111 = 31,680

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


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