1. The problem is to factor the expression $x^2$. 2. Factoring means expressing the expression as a product of simpler expressions. 3. The expression $x^2$ can be written as $x \times x$ because $x^2$ means $x$ multiplied by itself. 4. Therefore, the factored form of $x^2$ is simply $x \cdot x$. 5. This is the simplest factorization since $x$ is already a prime factor in algebraic terms.