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Expressing Composite Numbers as Product of Prime Numbers


It is sometimes necessary to express a composite number as a product of prime numbers.  As an example, the number 24 may be expressed as:

2 x 2 x 2 x 3

While smaller numbers may often be determined by inspection, a method for determining the product of prime numbers for larger numbers is presented.

  1. Using the original number continuously divide by the smallest prime number possible (e.g., 2, 3, 5, 7) until the number can no longer be reduced
  2. Collect the respective prime numbers, in addition to remaining prime number and express them as a product

Example:

Express the composite number 960 as a product of prime numbers.

Solution:


Resulting in 960 = 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 x 5