Q: What are the prime factors of the number 42,238?

 A: 2, 7, 431

Why are those the prime factors of the number 42,238?

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 42,238

42,238
Factor Arrows
221,119
Factor Arrows
73,017
Factor Arrows
7431

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, 7, 431

We can check our work by multiplying all of the prime factors together: 2 x 7 x 7 x 431 = 42,238

This can also be written as 21 x 72 x 4311 = 42,238

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


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