What is the prime factorization of 48?

1. Break 48 into two factors, such as 6 and 8, and keep splitting any factor that is not prime. 2. Splitting 6 gives 2 and 3, and splitting 8 gives 2 and 4, then 4 splits into 2 and 2. 3. Circling every prime that appears leaves four 2s and one 3. 4. Multiplying those circled primes, 2 times 2 times 2 times 2 times 3, gives back 48. _Source: OpenStax Elementary Algebra (CC BY 4.0), Ch 1 "Foundations", section 1.1 Introduction to Whole Numbers_