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Curriculum › Grade 4 › Mathematics

Factors, Multiples, and Patterns

  • Grade 4
  • Mathematics
  • 4.OA.B.4
  • Operations & Algebraic Thinking
  • ★ Enrichment

Aligned to 4.OA.B.4 — Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.

What this lesson teaches

A factor is a number that divides evenly into another number, and a multiple is what you get when you skip-count by a number. A number with exactly two factors, 1 and itself, is prime, while a number with more factors is composite.

Worked examples

Example 1

The factors of 12 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12. The first multiples of 4 are 4, 8, 12, 16. Since 12 has many factors, it is composite.

Example 2

The factors of 18 are 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, and 18. Its multiples are 18, 36, 54, 72 — factors divide into it, multiples are built from it.

Example 3

13 is prime: the only numbers that divide it evenly are 1 and 13. That is what makes a prime different from a composite like 12.

Practice questions

  1. List all the factor pairs of 18.
  2. Is 7 prime or composite?
  3. What are the first four multiples of 6?

Watch the lesson

Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.

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En español

Factores, Múltiplos y Patrones

Un factor es un número que divide exactamente a otro número, y un múltiplo es lo que obtienes cuando cuentas de forma salteada por un número. Un número que tiene exactamente dos factores, el 1 y él mismo, es primo, mientras que un número con más factores es compuesto.

Ejemplo 1: Los factores de 12 son 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 y 12. Los primeros múltiplos de 4 son 4, 8, 12, 16. Como 12 tiene muchos factores, es un número compuesto.

Ejemplo 2: Los factores de 18 son 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 y 18. Sus múltiplos son 18, 36, 54, 72 — los factores caben en él, los múltiplos se construyen a partir de él.

Ejemplo 3: 13 es primo: los únicos números que lo dividen exactamente son 1 y 13. Eso distingue a un primo de un compuesto como el 12.

More Operations & Algebraic Thinking lessons

Multi-Digit Multiplication with Partial Products4.NBT.B.5Multi-Step Word Problems4.OA.A.3Times as Many: Multiplication as Comparison4.OA.A.1Word Problems with Times as Many4.OA.A.2Number and Shape Patterns4.OA.C.5

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