What is the prime factor of 40?

The prime factorization of a positive integer is the decomposition of that number into its prime factors, which are prime numbers that can divide the number without leaving a remainder.

To determine the prime factorization of 40, we can divide it by the smallest prime number, which is 2. Since 40 can be divided evenly by 2, we get the result 20. We can continue dividing 20 by 2, which gives us 10. Dividing 10 by 2 again, we get 5. Since 5 is a prime number, we cannot divide it any further.

Therefore, the prime factorization of 40 is 2 × 2 × 2 × 5, which can be written as 2^3 × 5 or 2^3 × 5^1.