Prime Factorization of 12 | Math with Mr. J

[Music] Welcome to Math with Mr. J. In this video, I'm going to cover the prime factorization of 12. So, we are breaking 12 down into its prime factors. The prime numbers that multiply to equal 12. So, looking at 12, we need to start breaking this down by thinking of two factors. Two numbers that multiply to give us 12. Well, 2 and 6 are factors of 12. 2 * 6 = 12. So, let's break 12 down into 2 and six. Now, keep in mind, we could have also started with the factors of three and four and those factors would work as well. Depending on the number, there can be multiple different factors that we can use. So there can be multiple different ways we can do these but in the end we will get to the same prime numbers and that's what's important. Now let's continue to break this down. So we have two and six. Now two is a prime number. So we are done here. We can't break that down any further. So let's circle two to show that we have a prime number. Six on the other hand is a composite number. So we can break six down. So we need to think of factors here. Well 2 and 3 are factors of 6. 2 * 3 = 6. So let's break six down into two and three. Now both 2 and 3 are prime numbers. So we are done here and here. And that's the prime factorization of 12. We can't break anything else down any further. we have all prime numbers. So we can write this out as 12 equals and then we can put our prime factors in order from least to greatest here and we are multiplying them. So we have 2 * 2 * 3. And if we have the correct prime numbers, they will multiply to equal our original number. So let's check here. 2 * 2 is 4 * 3 is 12. So we are correct here. So there you have it. There's the prime factorization of 12. I hope that helped. Thanks so much for watching. Until next time, peace.