I think I know what you mean: break 48 down into its factors? 48=2*2*2*2*3 broken down into its lowest factors. There are 5 numbers multiplied together here, and all we do is build up numbers by combining these factors one by one. This is what we get:
2*24, 4*12, 8*6, 16*3 and not forgetting 1*48, because 1 is a factor of every number.
Is this what you were looking for?