The prime factorization of 176 is 2 × 2 × 2 × 11, or expressed using exponents, it can be written as 23 × 11.
To find the prime factorization, we start by dividing 176 by the smallest prime number, which is 2:
- 176 ÷ 2 = 88
- Next, we divide 88 by 2: 88 ÷ 2 = 44
- Then, 44 ÷ 2 = 22
- Finally, 22 ÷ 2 = 11
At this point, 11 is a prime number, so we stop here. Now we can gather all the prime factors we’ve found:
We took out three 2’s (since we divided four times by 2), and we have one 11. Thus, the prime factorization of 176 is 23 × 11.