Factors and Multiples – What are they?

To begin this term we have been looking at Factors and Multiples.

Factors 

The numbers that are multiplied together to get another number.

Example: 12

3 × 4 = 12, so 3 and 4 are factors of 12
Also 2 × 6 = 12, so 2 and 6 are also factors of 12,
And 1 × 12 = 12, so 1 and 12 are factors of 12 as well.

 

Mrs Baldwin then explained that some numbers have only 2 factors

e.g: 11

1 x 11 or 1 x 11 both = 11

The factors for 11 are 11 and 1.

This makes 11 a Prime number.

Prime number: a number that only has 2 factors (1 and itself)

 

Numbers that have more than 2 factors are called Composite Numbers

e.g:

8

2 x 4 = 8

1 x 8 = 8

Therefore the factors are 1,2,4,8 making a total of 4 factors

We were given a 100 chart each and we had to investigate which numbers are prime and which are composite numbers. This was challenging but we all managed to work out to at least the first 15 numbers.

As you can see there are more composite numbers than prime.

 

Next we looked at multiples.

Multiple

is the result of multiplying a number by another number

e.g.: multiples of 3 are 3,6,9,12,15…

multiples of 8 are 8,16,24,32,40…

 

 

Finally this week Mrs Baldwin introduced us to a game on the computer which involved practising our factors and multiples.

 

We know that some Year 7’s have tried this activity so we worked really hard in small groups or individually to try and get the longest chain. One group made a chain that was over 30!

The green dots show how long our chains are! This was a lot of fun and a great game that stretched our brain muscles! Click HERE to try the game for yourself!

Can you write down one prime number and its factors and the first 4 multiples?

Can you write down one composite number and its factors and the first 4 multiples?

What did you enjoy and find challenging about the game?

 

7 thoughts on “Factors and Multiples – What are they?

  1. dear mrs baldwin
    I liked it because it was challenging and fun to challenge your self and I just liked it what I I found chaining is it is new
    regards wil

  2. Dear Mrs Baldwin,
    One of the prime numbers is 7 its factors are 1 and 7 and the first 4 multiples are 7, 14, 21 and 28.

    I know 9 is a composite number its factors are 1, 9 and 3 and the first 4 multiples are 9, 18, 27 and 36.

    I enjoyed the game on the laptops and I found the bit where we found all the composite and prime numbers a bit challenging.

    Bye From Lucena🙂

  3. dear mrs baldwin

    the 2 factors of five are 5,1 some multiples of 5 are 5 10 15 20 …. etc

    some factors for 18 are 2,9 18,1 3,6 the 1st four multiples are 18, 36,54 and 72

    what i enjoyed about the factors and multiples was how we worked in groups to get the answers to continue the chain but the thing that challenged me was trying to find factors or multiples .

  4. Dear Mrs Baldwin,
    I enjoyed how Josh and I got to play that game because it was very challenging for Josh and I one we got the first few easy numbers we were finding it hard to link one number to anther number. Yes i can write the first 4 numbers 7,14,21,28.

    Regards Max

  5. Dear Mrs Baldwin,
    Here is my example: five is the prime number and the first four multiples are 10,15,20 and 25. Six is the composite number and the first four multiples are :12,18,24 and 30. I enjoyed finding the right number and I found it challenging getting past the number 24.
    From James.

  6. My prime number is 3 and my factors are 3 and 1 the first 4 multiples are 6,9,11 and 13.
    My composite number is 12 the factors are 12,1,6 and 2 the first 4 multiples are 24,36,48 and 60.
    I enjoyed the bit where you just had to keep finding factors and multiples on and on. The bit that i found challenging was where you had to make a chain out of all the numbers luckily if u were stuck you could just start a new chain.

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