Express 12 product of prime

To express the number 12 as a product of its prime factors, we can start by dividing it by the smallest prime number, which is 2.

1. \( 12 \div 2 = 6 \) (2 is a prime factor)
2. \( 6 \div 2 = 3 \) (2 is again a prime factor)
3. \( 3 \) is a prime number itself.

So, we can express 12 as:

\[
12 = 2 \times 2 \times 3
\]

This can also be written using exponents for the repeated factor:

\[
12 = 2^2 \times 3
\]

Thus, the prime factorization of 12 is \( 2^2 \times 3 \).