189 = 3n x p .........where n and p are prime numbers? What does n and p stand for?

Question

note that 3n is 3 to the power of n.

Answer 1

Just figure the prime factorization of 189:

189 / 3 = 63
63 / 3 = 21
21 / 3 = 7
7 / 7 = 1

So the factors are 3 x 3 x 3 x 7.

From there it is easy to see that 189 = 3³ x 7

So n = 3, p = 7 (and fortunately, they are both prime numbers as stated in the original question).

Answer 2

n is the exponent and they both are variables. n=3 and p=7