Prime Factorization of 125
Find the prime factorization of 125. Express 125 as a product of prime numbers.
Answer:
125 = 5^3
Step-by-Step Solution
Step 1
Understand Prime Factorization
To find the prime factorization of 125, we need to express it as a product of prime numbers.
We do this by repeatedly dividing by the smallest prime that divides evenly, starting with 2.
A prime number is only divisible by 1 and itself (2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, ...).
Step 2
Check Divisibility by 2
125 is an odd number, so it is not divisible by 2.
We move on to check the next prime number: 3.
Step 3
Divide by 5
5 is a prime number that divides our current value. We can divide by 5 3 times:
125 ÷ 5 = 25
25 ÷ 5 = 5
5 ÷ 5 = 1
After dividing by 5, we have 1 remaining.
Step 4
Write the Prime Factorization
Now we combine all the prime factors we found:
Expanded form: 125 = 5 × 5 × 5
Exponential form: 125 = 5^3
We can verify: 5 × 5 × 5 = 125 ✓