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Re: The number of distinct prime factors of 100,000
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17 Aug 2018, 16:10
Explanation
Since only the number of distinct prime factors matter, not what they are or how many times they are present, it is possible to tell on sight that Quantity A has only 2 distinct prime factors, because 100,000 is a power of 10. (Any prime tree for 10, 100, or 1,000, etc. will contain only the prime factors 2 and 5, occurring in pairs.)
In Quantity B, 99,000 breaks down as 99 × 1,000. Since 1,000 also contains 2’s and 5’s, and 99 contains even more factors (specifically 3, 3, and 11), Quantity B is greater. It is not necessary to make prime factor trees for each number.