Factors in algebra are used almost all the time outside school! Considering that factors tell you which numbers to multiply to give any given number; seemingly simple stuff like say deciding how many basketball teams one can create from a group of 35 at any one time requires one to use the fact that 5 & 7 are two factors that make 35. Infact, any problem solving that requires you to group, share out, divide and even rearrange patterns/shapes will involve knowing the factors that make up numbers. The biggest advantage (in my opinion) is that every number can be written as a multiplication of its factors... This way we have the ability split up any number and thus work out who gets how much of whatever!
