Prime Factorization

                        By Lydia Joh 

What is a prime number?

A prime number is a number that cannot be divided by any other numbers other than itself, one, or zero. It's opposite is a composite number.

What is a composite number?

A composite number is a number that can be divided by other numbers other than itself, one, or zero.

What is 1 or 0?

1 and 0 are neither prime numbers nor acomposite number because it cannot by divided by anything but itself.

What is prime factorization?

Prime Factorization is the process in which a composite number is changed to become a series of prime numbers which, multiplied, equal the original number.

What are some ways to do prime factorization?

One way to do prime factorization is by using a factor tree. Here is a picture of a factor tree:

Why would we use prime factorization?

You would probably use prime factorization because then you could find a number's factors and that would help you learn what that number could be divided by.

What is a factor?

A factor is a number that you can divide the original number by.

Go to a Prime Number Chart to see a few prime numbers. You should also go to a Prime Factorization Calculator to see what the prime factorization of a number is.

Some websites I got this information from are http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_number, http://www.aaaknow.com/fra63ax2.htm, and http://www.mathsisfun.com/prime-factorization.html.