How do you write the prime factorization of 100?

## 2 xx 2 xx 5 xx 5 ## or ## 2^2 xx 5^5##

100 can be factored into ## 10 xx 10## or ##10^2##

The exponent 2 indicated that there are two factors of 10

However 10 is not a prime number. ten can be factored into

## 2 xx 5## Since there are two factors of 10 there are two sets of

## 2 xx 5 ## so ## 2 xx 2 xx 5 xx 5 ## or ## 2^2 xx 5^5##