The prime factorization of a number involves breaking it down into the simplest factors that are prime numbers. To find the prime factorization of 50, we start by identifying the smallest prime number that divides 50.
First, we notice that 50 is an even number, so we can divide it by 2:
- 50 ÷ 2 = 25
Now we have 2 as one of the prime factors, and we need to continue factoring 25. The next smallest prime number is 3, but 25 is not divisible by 3. So, we try the next prime number, which is 5:
- 25 ÷ 5 = 5
Now we have another prime factor, which is 5. Since 5 is also a prime number, we can stop here. Therefore, we can express 50 in terms of its prime factors:
50 = 2 × 5 × 5
To summarize, the prime factorization of 50 is:
- 2
- 5²
This means that the prime factors of 50 are 2 and 5, with 5 appearing twice in the factorization.