Primary Mathematics/Factors and Primes

Factors and Primes

Factors are factorizations, which is to say the dividing functions of a number.

100 = 10 x 10
 88 = 8 x 11

Prime factors are factors which are prime numbers

55  = 5 x 11
100 = 2 x 5 x 2 x 5

Because 2, 5, and 11 cannot be divided by any number but 1 and itself, these numbers are called prime. Prime numbers are an important part of mathematics, and the problem of factoring large numbers into primes remains fundamental to the study of computer science. Factoring a number like 64 often requires more than one step:

64  = 2 x 32 (32 is not prime)
 or = 2 x 2 x 16 (16 is not prime)
 or = 2 x 2 x 2 x 8 (8 is not prime)
 or = 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 4 (4 is not prime)
 or = 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2