Breaking Down the Number 28
To understand the factors of 28, we need to find the numbers that divide 28 exactly without leaving a remainder. These factors are:
1, 2, 4, 7, 14, and 28
Prime Factorization: Uncovering the Building Blocks
Prime factorization is the process of expressing a number as a product of its prime factors. For 28, we can break it down as follows:
28 = 2 × 2 × 7
This shows that the prime factors of 28 are 2 and 7.
Visualizing the Factor Tree
A factor tree is a graphical representation of the prime factorization process. Here’s how it works for 28:
1. Start with 28 and divide it by the smallest prime number, 2: 28 ÷ 2 = 14
2. Take 14 and divide it by 2 again: 14 ÷ 2 = 7
3. Since 7 is a prime number, we can stop here.
The factor tree for 28 looks like this:
28 → 2 → 2 → 7
This visualization helps us see that the prime factors of 28 are indeed 2, 2, and 7.