All composite numbers can be expressed as unique products of prime numbers. This is accomplished by dividing the original number and its factors by prime numbers until all the factors are prime. A factor tree can help you visualize this.
Example: 210
210 Divide by two.
105,2 Divide by three.
35,3,2 Divide by five.
7,5,3,2 Stop. All the factors are prime.
No difference. Once you've found the factors of a number, the prime numbers on that list are the prime factors.
All numbers have factors. Some factors are prime numbers, some are composite numbers, one is neither. When finding the factors of a number, you find all the factors. The prime factorization is a multiplication string of just prime factors that will total the given number.
That's finding the prime factorization.
Once all the prime factors of a number have been found, the number of factors the number has and what they are can be found. I'd be finding the prime factors first before finding all the factors of a number, so I'd rather find all the prime factors as it means I can stop before I have to do more work in finding all the factors.
k>root of p
The prime factorization of 72 is 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 x 3 The prime factors of 72 are 2 and 3. Prime factorizations may contain repeated factors. When you list the factors, you only need to list them once.
finding the prime factors of a composite number
The prime factors of 42 are 2, 3 and 7
Any number that has only two factors is a prime number.
There are lists of them online.
You do not necessarily need the common prime factors when finding the greatest common factor, but with large numbers or numbers for which you cannot easily determine all the factors, using prime factorization to determine the greatest common factor is the easiest method. The greatest common factor can then be determined by multiplying the common prime factors together. For example, when trying to find the greatest common factor of 2144 and 5672, finding all their possible factors to compare could be difficult. So, it is easier to find their prime factors, determine the prime factors they have in common, and then multiply the common prime factors to get the greatest common factor. For descriptions and examples of finding the greatest common factor, see the "Related Questions" links below.
By finding their prime factors