What is the prime factorization of 48?

The prime factorization of 48 is 2⁴ × 3.

To break it down, we start by dividing 48 by the smallest prime number, which is 2.

• 48 ÷ 2 = 24
• 24 ÷ 2 = 12
• 12 ÷ 2 = 6
• 6 ÷ 2 = 3

Now, we cannot divide 3 by 2 anymore, so we then divide it by the next prime number, which is 3.

• 3 ÷ 3 = 1

Now that we reached 1, we can see that 48 is made up of four 2’s and one 3, hence the prime factorization: 2⁴ × 3.