Find the Prime Factorization 972

$972$

$972$ has factors of $2$ and $486$ .

$2 \cdot 486$

$486$ has factors of $2$ and $243$ .

$2 \cdot 2 \cdot 243$

$243$ has factors of $3$ and $81$ .

$2 \cdot 2 \cdot 3 \cdot 81$

$81$ has factors of $3$ and $27$ .

$2 \cdot 2 \cdot 3 \cdot 3 \cdot 27$

$27$ has factors of $3$ and $9$ .

$2 \cdot 2 \cdot 3 \cdot 3 \cdot 3 \cdot 9$

$9$ has factors of $3$ and $3$ .

$2 \cdot 2 \cdot 3 \cdot 3 \cdot 3 \cdot 3 \cdot 3$