The prime factorization of 320 can be determined by dividing it by the smallest prime numbers until we reach 1.
1. Start with 320. The smallest prime number is 2. Since 320 is even, we can divide it by 2:
320 ÷ 2 = 160
2. Next, we take 160 and again divide by 2:
160 ÷ 2 = 80
3. We repeat this process for 80:
80 ÷ 2 = 40
4. Continuing with 40, we divide by 2 again:
40 ÷ 2 = 20
5. For 20, we divide by 2 once more:
20 ÷ 2 = 10
6. Finally, we divide 10 by 2:
10 ÷ 2 = 5
7. Now we reach 5, which is a prime number, so we cannot divide further.
Putting all this together, we can express 320 as:
320 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 5
Or in exponential form:
320 = 25 × 51
Thus, the prime factorization of 320 is 25 × 5.