What is the prime factorization of 10?

10 = 2 × 5. Both are prime, so the factor tree has just one split.

What are the factor pairs of 10?

The positive factor pairs of 10 are (1, 10) and (2, 5).

Factors of 10 - Factor Pairs & Prime Factorization

Q: What are the factors of 10?

The factors of 10 are 1, 2, 5 and 10. It has four factors.

Q: Is 10 a prime or composite number?

Composite. A prime has exactly two factors, but 10 has four.

What Are the Factors of 10?

Look at your two hands. That is 10 fingers, and you can split them into 2 hands of 5, or count them as 10 single fingers. Those groupings are factors. A factor is a whole number that divides another number exactly, with no remainder.

The factors of 10 are 1, 2, 5 and 10. Four factors, and two of them are prime.

Factor Pairs of 10

Find pairs that multiply to 10, starting from the outside.

Handwritten notebook page titled Factors of 10 showing 1 × 10 = 10 and 2 × 5 = 10, with the factors 1, 2, 5 and 10 circled in red and the note 4 factors — The two pairs of 10, with all four factors circled.

Start with 1 × 10. Every number has this pair.
Try 2. Since 10 ÷ 2 = 5, write 2 × 5.
Try 3 and 4. Neither divides 10 evenly, and the next number, 5, is already used, so you are done.

Prime Factorization of 10

Prime factors show what 10 is built from. It splits into 2 and 5, which are both prime, so the tree needs just one split.

Handwritten factor tree of 10 splitting into red-circled 2 and 5, with 10 = 2 × 5 written below in green — Factor tree of 10. Both branches are prime.

So 10 = 2 × 5. Using the shortcut, (1 + 1) × (1 + 1) = 4 factors.

Why 10 ends in zero

Any number that has both 2 and 5 as factors must be a multiple of 10, and every multiple of 10 ends in 0. So a number is divisible by 10 whenever its last digit is 0.

Is 10 a Prime or Composite Number?

Composite. A prime has two factors, while 10 has four. The sum of all its factors is 1 + 2 + 5 + 10 = 18.

Real-Life Uses of the Factors of 10

Our number system. We count in tens, so place value and decimals are all built on 10.
Money. A 10-dollar note equals two 5-dollar notes, or ten singles.
Metric units. A centimeter is 10 millimeters, which is why metric conversions are so quick.

Common Factors of 10 With Other Numbers

The factors of 15 are 1, 3, 5 and 15, so 10 and 15 share 1 and 5. The GCF is 5, which simplifies 10/15 to 2/3.

Quick Practice

Which of these are factors of 10: 3, 5 or 10? That is 5 and 10. Now try 20 and check your answer with the calculator.

Factors of 10