Q: What are the prime factors of the number 87,040?

 A: 2, 5, 17

Why are those the prime factors of the number 87,040?

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 87,040

87,040
Factor Arrows
243,520
Factor Arrows
221,760
Factor Arrows
210,880
Factor Arrows
25,440
Factor Arrows
22,720
Factor Arrows
21,360
Factor Arrows
2680
Factor Arrows
2340
Factor Arrows
2170
Factor Arrows
285
Factor Arrows
517

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, 5, 17

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 2 x 2 x 2 x 5 x 17 = 87,040

This can also be written as 210 x 51 x 171 = 87,040

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


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