Q: What are the prime factors of the number 40,320?

 A: 2, 3, 5, 7

Why are those the prime factors of the number 40,320?

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 40,320

40,320
Factor Arrows
220,160
Factor Arrows
210,080
Factor Arrows
25,040
Factor Arrows
22,520
Factor Arrows
21,260
Factor Arrows
2630
Factor Arrows
2315
Factor Arrows
3105
Factor Arrows
335
Factor Arrows
57

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, 7

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 3 x 3 x 5 x 7 = 40,320

This can also be written as 27 x 32 x 51 x 71 = 40,320

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


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