what are the prime factors of 24

To find the prime factors of 24, you need to understand what prime numbers are and how to factorize a given number.

1. Prime numbers are numbers that are only divisible by 1 and themselves. Examples of prime numbers are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, and so on.

2. To factorize a number, you divide it by prime numbers until you cannot divide it any further. The resulting numbers are the prime factors of the original number.

Now let's find the prime factors of 24:

Start by dividing 24 by the smallest prime number, 2:
24 ÷ 2 = 12

Next, divide 12 by 2 again:
12 ÷ 2 = 6

Continue to divide 6 by 2:
6 ÷ 2 = 3

Since 3 is a prime number, we stop here as it cannot be divided any further.

To sum up, the prime factors of 24 are 2, 2, and 3.

In mathematical notation, we can write it as:
24 = 2 × 2 × 3