Question

Which of the following is the prime factorization of 15?

01x15
03x5
02x2x5
05x2

Answer 1

Answer: The second one, 3×5

Explanation:

We can use a factor tree to determine the prime factorization of 15. We first choose factors of 15, and the only factors we can use besides 1 and 15 are 3 and 5.

15

3×5

That is all, because the final numbers listed are prime and we cannot perform any further actions. The prime factorization of 15 is 3×5, or in exponential form,
`3^1`×
`5^1`.

Note: You may notice with other numbers that there are several factors to choose from. That's okay, because in the end it will give you the same result.

Hope this helps!