Clarifying Prime Factors

**Remember, that we find the prime factorization of a number when we can break it down into the product
(multiplication) of only prime numbers.
Ex.1
52 Select 2 numbers, that when multiplied together give you 52. In this case, 3x14.
3x14- 3 is a prime number so we can leave it. 14 is not a prime number, so we must break it down
3x(7x2) into a product of 2 numbers- 7x2. 3, 7, and 2 are all prime numbers. Therefore they are the
prime factors of the number 52.

Ex.2
164 Select 2 numbers, that when multiplied together give you 164. In this case, 2x82.
2x82 2 is a prime number, so we leave it. 82 is not a prime number, so we must break it down into
2x(2x41) a product of 2 numbers- 2x41. 2,2,41 are all prime numbers. Therefore they are the prime factors
of the number 164.

We can use prime factors to find the greatest common factor (GCF) of a set of numbers.
Ex.1
21 63 1. List the prime factors for each number. 7 and 3 are prime factors, so we leave it.
7x3 3x21 3 is also a prime number, but 21 is not. Therefore we must continue to break it down-7x3.
7x3 x 3x(7x3) 2. List the common factors 3,7...multiply them. 3x7=21, therefore 21 is the GCF of 21 and 63.

Ex.2
48 120 1. List all the prime factors
4x12 12x10 2. List the common factors 2,2,2,3.
2x2x4x3 6x2x5x2 3. Multiply them. 2x2x2x3=24 Therefore 24 is the GCF of 48 and 120.
2x2x(2x2)x3 (3x2)x2x5x2

We can use prime factors to find the lowest common multiple (LCM) of a set of numbers.

Ex. 1
21 63 1. Find all the prime factors for each number. (See Ex. 1 above)
7x3 3x7x3 2. List all the numbers they have in common: 7,3
3. List all the numbers they don’t have in common: 3
4. Multiply both sets of number together: 7x3x3 = 63 Therefore the LCM of
21 and 63 is 63.
5. To find the second multiple, multiply the number by 2- 63x2=126
6. To find the third multiple, multiply the number by 3, etc. 63x3=189
Ex.2
48 120
2x2x2x2x3 3x2x2x5x2 The numbers in common are: 2,2,2,3
The numbers not in common are: 2,5
2x2x2x3x2x5=240 Therefore 240 is the LCM of 48 and 120
The second multiple is 240x2=480, the third is 240x3=720
1. Write each number as a product of prime factors. Use exponents where possible.

a) 252 b)162 c)56

2i) Find the GCF of each pair of numbers.

2ii) Find the first 3 LCM of each pair

a) 15, 35 b)20, 100 c)25, 75 d)30, 36

e) 26, 104 f) 14, 112 g)66, 154 h) 52, 64