Q: What are the prime factors of the number 17,280?

 A: 2, 3, 5

Why are those the prime factors of the number 17,280?

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 17,280

17,280
Factor Arrows
28,640
Factor Arrows
24,320
Factor Arrows
22,160
Factor Arrows
21,080
Factor Arrows
2540
Factor Arrows
2270
Factor Arrows
2135
Factor Arrows
345
Factor Arrows
315
Factor Arrows
35

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

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 3 x 3 x 3 x 5 = 17,280

This can also be written as 27 x 33 x 51 = 17,280

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


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