Express 48 product of primes

To express 48 as a product of its prime factors, we can perform the prime factorization:

1. Start with 48 and divide by the smallest prime number (2):
\[
48 \div 2 = 24
\]
2. Divide 24 by 2:
\[
24 \div 2 = 12
\]
3. Divide 12 by 2:
\[
12 \div 2 = 6
\]
4. Divide 6 by 2:
\[
6 \div 2 = 3
\]
5. Finally, 3 is a prime number.

Now, counting the number of times we used each prime factor, we have:

- The prime factor 2 appears 4 times.
- The prime factor 3 appears 1 time.

Thus, we can express 48 as a product of its prime factors:
\[
48 = 2^4 \times 3^1
\]

So, the prime factorization of 48 is \(2^4 \times 3\).