Prime Factorization of 4
Find the prime factorization of 4. Express 4 as a product of prime numbers.
Answer:
4 = 2^2
Step-by-Step Solution
Step 1
Understand Prime Factorization
To find the prime factorization of 4, we need to express it as a product of prime numbers.
We do this by repeatedly dividing by the smallest prime that divides evenly, starting with 2.
A prime number is only divisible by 1 and itself (2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, ...).
Step 2
Divide by 2
Since 4 is even, we start by dividing by 2. We can divide by 2 twice:
4 ÷ 2 = 2
2 ÷ 2 = 1
After dividing by 2, we have 1 remaining.
Step 3
Write the Prime Factorization
Now we combine all the prime factors we found:
Expanded form: 4 = 2 × 2
Exponential form: 4 = 2^2
We can verify: 2 × 2 = 4 ✓