Question

If $p$ is a prime number, how many factors does $p\times p$ have?

• A. 1
• B. 2
• C. 3
• D. $p$

Answer 1

The correct option is C

3

$p$ being a prime number, has only 1 and itself as factors. Thus, the only numbers that divide $p\times p$ are: 1, $p$ and $p\times p$. Thus, $p\times p$ has exactly three factors.

Consider the number $25=5\times 5$, where 5 is the prime number. Here, 25 has (2+1) three factors.