I'm confused.
350 = 2*5*5*7 --> is this 3 factors or 4?
Either way
350*2 = 700 = 2*2*5*5*7 --> this is 3 factors or 5?
Why is 2 not the answer if the number of factors is odd?
Edit: I understand now
the prime factorization of the number does not represent all the factors or relate to even/odd number of total factors
700 --> 2*350 --> 2*175 --> 5*35 --> 7*5 --> factors are 1, 2, 5, 7, 35, 175, 350, 700 which is an even number of factors
As people have stated above only perfect squares have odd total number of factors.
To have a perfect square, you need an equal distrubution of each prime factors
350 = 2*5*5*7 --> need to equalize the 2's and 7's to match the 5's
14*350 = 2*7*350= 2*2*5*5*7*7 --> this will be a perfect square and therefore have an odd number of total factors.
Proof:
16 = 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 (odd)
9 = 3 (odd)
26 = 1, 2, 3, 6, 36 (odd)
14 = 1, 2, 7, 14 (even)
15 = 1, 3, 5, 15 (even)