color(green)22 is the SMALLEST prime number that can divide 196 so we'll start with that :
196/color(blue)2=981962=98
98 also can be divided by color(green)22, so :
98/color(blue)2 = 49982=49
color(green)22 is no longer a divisor of 49, so we must find the next SMALLEST prime number that can divide 49, which is color(red)77
49/color(blue)7=7497=7
Again, color(red)77 is a divisor of itself so :
7/color(blue)7=177=1
We end the division when we find 1, and the prime factorization of the number 196 is the product of the prime factors in the denominators which are in this case color(green)22 and color(red)77 :
196=color(blue)(2xx2xx7xx7)=color(blue)2^2xxcolor(blue)7^2196=2×2×7×7=22×72