Question

Alice wants to find all the prime factors of the number you get when you multiply 17•11•13•7. She thinks she has to use a calculator to pay Sam although multiplications and then find the prime factorization of the resulting number. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Answer 1

No. Calculator is not needed.

17, 11, 13, and 7 are all prime numbers. They are already the prime factors of the product.

A prime number is a number that can be divided evenly by 1 or itself.

17 ÷ 1 = 17 ; 17 ÷ 17 = 1  *prime number
11 ÷ 1 = 11 ; 11 ÷ 11 = 1  *prime number
13 ÷ 1 = 13 ; 13 ÷ 13 = 1  *prime number
  7 ÷ 1 =   7 ;   7 ÷   7 = 1  *prime number

Prime factorization is finding which prime numbers multiply together to make the original numbers. Since the prime factors have been given, using a calculator to multiply the prime factors to find the prime factorization is no longer needed.