Fundamental theorem of arithmetic

In mathematics, the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, also called the unique factorization theorem and prime factorization theorem, states that every integer greater than 1 is either prime or can be represented uniquely as a product of prime numbers, up to the order of the factors. For example, 1200 = 2 4 ⋅ 3 1 ⋅ 5 2 = ( 2 ⋅ 2 ⋅ 2 ⋅ 2 ) ⋅ 3 ⋅ ( 5 ⋅ 5 ) = 5 ⋅ 2 ⋅ 5 ⋅ 2 ⋅ 3 ⋅ 2 ⋅ 2 = … {\displaystyle 1200=2^{4}\cdot 3^{1}\cdot 5^{2}=(2\cdot 2\cdot 2\cdot 2)\cdot 3\cdot (5\cdot 5)=5\cdot 2\cdot 5\cdot 2\cdot 3\cdot 2\cdot 2=\ldots } The theorem says two things about this example: first, that 1200 can be represented as a product of primes, and second, that no matter how this is done, there will always be exactly four 2s, one 3, two 5s, and no other primes in the product.

Source: Wikipedia — Fundamental theorem of arithmetic (CC BY-SA 4.0)