How do you find the prime factorization of 100?

You can use two methods: the sequential factoring or the smaller number method.

Sequential (factor tree):

100 divided by 2 equals 50, divided by 2 equals 25, divided by 5 equals 5.

2 x 2 x 5 x 5 = 100

Smaller factors:

100 = 10 x 10 and 10 = 2 x 5

so 100 = (2 x 5) x (2 x 5) = 2 x 2 x 5 x 5