Prime Factorization
One way of describing numbers is by breaking them down into a product of their prime
factors. This is called prime factorization. Every positive number can be prime factored.
By definition the prime factorization of a prime number is the number itself, and the prime
factorization of 1 is 1.
Prime factorizations are unique. Every number has only one prime factorization, and no two
numbers share the same prime factorization.
Example:
Find the prime factorization of 650.
Solution:
We create a factor tree.
650
2
325
13
25
2
2
5
5
13
2
Thus we find that the prime factorization of 650 is 2
5
13.
Try it out:
Find the prime factorization of 1500 and 1470.
1500
1470
2
750
2
735
30
147
25
5
2
2
2
5
5
2
15
2
5
3
49
2
5
5
2
3
5
2
5
3
7
7
1500 = 2
2
3
5
5
5
1470 = 2
3
5
7
7
4