What Are the Factors of 17?

A factor is a number that can be multiplied to produce another number. In this example, 17 is a prime number because it can only be divided evenly, or without leaving a remainder, by itself and 1. Some other prime numbers are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13 and 19. Composite numbers, on the other hand, have more than one factor pair or factorization.

Factoring is useful in algebra and more advanced mathematics, such as calculus, when dealing with quadratics, trinomials and polynomial equations.