What is the value of powers by multiplying the factors?

Answer 1

When you have finished factoring you will have only prime numbers left (2,3,5,7,11,13...). You may, though, have more than one of a particular term. Let's factor 36. Well, I can see right off that it equals 9 x 4. Factoring again, we get 36 = [3 x 3] x [2 x 2] = 3^2, 2^2. This one is easy.

But can see that [2^10, 1], are also factors of a number. What is the number in this case? It is [2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 1] = 1024.