The expression p (3-0.5x) is equivalent to the expression - 24+qx. In these expressions, p and q are rational numbers. What is the value of q?

In order to factor an integer, we need to repeatedly divide it by the ascending sequence of primes (2, 3, 5 ...).

The number of times that each prime 'goes into' the original integer becomes its exponent in the final result.

In our example,

Prime number goes into once.

Prime number goes into once.