Q: What are the prime factors of the number 72,480?

 A: 2, 3, 5, 151

Why are those the prime factors of the number 72,480?

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 72,480

72,480
Factor Arrows
236,240
Factor Arrows
218,120
Factor Arrows
29,060
Factor Arrows
24,530
Factor Arrows
22,265
Factor Arrows
3755
Factor Arrows
5151

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, 151

We can check our work by multiplying all of the prime factors together: 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 x 5 x 151 = 72,480

This can also be written as 25 x 31 x 51 x 1511 = 72,480

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


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