Question

Three students need to produce a prime factorization of 48. Donna states that the first factors in the tree should be 6 and 8. Larry states that the first factors in the tree should be 4 and 12. Trish states that the initial factors of 48 do not affect the prime factorization. Explain why Trish is correct. (HELP ME)

Answer 1

Answer:

Trish is right because i doesn't matter. It eventually simplifies down to 2x2x2x2x3. What ever path u take it will significantly simplify to that so that is correct.

Hope this helps plz hit the crown :D

Answer 2

Answer:

If we start with 6 and 8, we can break 6 up into 2*3 and 8 into 2*2*2, thus getting a prime factorization of 2*2*2*2*3, or 2^4 *3.

If we begin with 4 and 12, 4 breaks into 2*2 and 12 into 2*2*3, so the prime factorization of 48 is still 2^4 *3.

The starting factors do not matter, since the answer comes out to be the same. There is exactly one correct answer- it doesn't matter how it's found.

Hope this helps! :)