Prime factorization will decompose an integer number into powers of its prime factors.
Therefore there should not be any composite factors. Composite factors are numbers which can be further decomposed into prime factors, such as 6=2*3, or 18=2*3*3=2*3².
Look at the last column of all the answers and decide which ones are not prime factorizations.
Which is a prime factorization?
a. 5^2 x 7^2 x 18^3
b. 5^3 x 7^2 x 19^2
c. 6^2 x 7^3 x 18^2
d. 4^2 x 5^2 x 15^3
2 answers
The answer is B because all factors in 5^3 x 7^2 x 19^2 are prime. For example, 5,7,19, 3 and 2 cannot be decomposed. An example of decomposed is 9 where it can be divided by a number other than 1 and the number itself.