The prime factorization of $12$ is:

$12 = 2^2 \times 3$

This means that 12 is made up of two factors of 2 and one factor of 3.

Would you like more details on how prime factorization works, or have any questions?

Here are five related questions:

1. What is the prime factorization of 18?
2. How can you find the prime factorization of a number?
3. What are the prime numbers between 1 and 20?
4. Can a prime number have more than two factors?
5. What is the greatest common divisor (GCD) of 12 and 30 using prime factorization?

Tip: When performing prime factorization, always start with the smallest prime number, which is 2.