Factors in algebra are used almost all the time outside school. because factors tell you which numbers to multiply to give any  number you want. one simple example is  deciding how many soccer ball teams you can make from a group of 35 you can use the fact that 5 & 7 are two factors that make 35. In fact, any problem solving that requires you to group, divide and even rearrange shapes will involve knowing the factors that make up the numbers. The biggest advantage is that every number can be written as a multiplication  of  its factors. another way factors can be used is 

thank you

Yousef Shahin

ps; my fist post got deleted because i thought i could copy paste