Q: What are the prime factors of the number 397,980?

 A: 2, 3, 5, 11, 67

Why are those the prime factors of the number 397,980?

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 397,980

397,980
Factor Arrows
2198,990
Factor Arrows
299,495
Factor Arrows
333,165
Factor Arrows
311,055
Factor Arrows
33,685
Factor Arrows
5737
Factor Arrows
1167

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, 67

We can check our work by multiplying all of the prime factors together: 2 x 2 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 5 x 11 x 67 = 397,980

This can also be written as 22 x 33 x 51 x 111 x 671 = 397,980

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


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