48 divided by 16 equals 3.
To break it down: when you divide a number, you are essentially asking how many times one number can fit into another. In this case, if you take the number 16 and see how many times it fits into 48, you can do this through simple multiplication or repeated subtraction.
For instance, if you multiply 16 by 3, you get 48 (16 x 3 = 48). This means that 48 contains 16 exactly three times. Therefore, 48 divided by 16 is 3.