Q: What are the prime factors of the number 978,656?

 A: 2, 7, 17, 257

Why are those the prime factors of the number 978,656?

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 978,656

978,656
Factor Arrows
2489,328
Factor Arrows
2244,664
Factor Arrows
2122,332
Factor Arrows
261,166
Factor Arrows
230,583
Factor Arrows
74,369
Factor Arrows
17257

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, 17, 257

We can check our work by multiplying all of the prime factors together: 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 7 x 17 x 257 = 978,656

This can also be written as 25 x 71 x 171 x 2571 = 978,656

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


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