Q: What are the prime factors of the number 21,120?

 A: 2, 3, 5, 11

Why are those the prime factors of the number 21,120?

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 21,120

21,120
Factor Arrows
210,560
Factor Arrows
25,280
Factor Arrows
22,640
Factor Arrows
21,320
Factor Arrows
2660
Factor Arrows
2330
Factor Arrows
2165
Factor Arrows
355
Factor Arrows
511

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, 11

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 5 x 11 = 21,120

This can also be written as 27 x 31 x 51 x 111 = 21,120

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


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