What is a Factor Tree? Definition and Examples


A factor tree is a diagram showing the factors of a composite number. The tree is complete when all factors shown towards the bottom of the tree are prime numbers only.

The factor tree for the number 96 is shown below.

Factor tree of 96

A factor tree can help you find the prime factorization of a number.

The prime factorization of 72 is 3 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2

Notice that a number may have different factor trees with different ways of looking for the factors. The factor tree below shows a different way of finding the factors.

Factor tree of 96

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