Prime, Composite, Factors and Multiples

PRIME, COMPOSITE, FACTORS AND MULTIPLES

Part of understanding math is to understand the terminology that mathematicans use to describe numbers. Here are some definitions you need to know.

Prime numbers - A prime number has only 2 factors. One and itself.
Example:  19, 3, 17, 13, 17, 5
All of these numbers can only be multiplied by 1 and itself

Composite Numbers - A composite number has 3 or more factors.

8 = 1x8
8 = 2x4

Interesting fact: All even numbers are composite numbers because 2 is a factor of all of them. But 2 is a prime number because its only 2 factors are 1 and 2.
Example: 15, 14, 27, 20, 24

Multiples - A number that is the product of two factors. Its skip counting.

First 5 multiples of 24 are: 24, 48, 72, 96, 120

Factors - A whole number that divides a whole number without a remainder. One of the two whole numbers the multiply together to form a product.

24 - 1 x 24, 2 x 12, 3 x 8, 4 x 6

Try This!

Can you identify what numbers are prime and which numbers are composite?


 5,   18,   49,    52,    63,    78,    96,   121,   24,    32,  36,   72,   81,   11

For the numbers that are composite identify the factors of the numbers.

What are the multiples of these numbers:

3, 7, 8, 9,

Where could you find the multiples of these numbers? What are they similar to?