First I will define what prime factor means
Prime factors of 42 are the factors of 42 that are prime
Prime numbers are those numbers that have two factors; 1 and itself
Factors of 42 are those numbers that can go into 42 without remainder
So let's list out the factors of 42, they are;
Factors of 42 = 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 14, 21 and 42
Now among these factors, we will list out the ones that are prime, they are the prime factors
That is;
Prime factors of 42 = 2, 3, and 7
To express 42 as a product of it's prime factors, we have 2 ways of doing this
The first method is; To keep dividing 42 by the smallest prime factors
42 = 2 x 3 x 7
The second method is;
Therefore, the prime factorization of 42 = 2 x 3 x 7
