Lesson 2: Understanding Multiples

Property

A whole number $b$ is a multiple of another whole number $a$ if $b$ can be obtained by skip-counting by $a$, or equivalently, if $b \div a$ results in a whole number (a remainder of 0).
This relationship can be expressed as $b = n \times a$, where $n$ is a non-zero whole number.

Examples

Property

If a number $a$ is a factor of a number $b$, then $b$ is a multiple of $a$.
This inverse relationship can be shown with the equation $b = n \times a$, where $n$ is a whole number.

Examples

Property

If a number $N$ can be expressed as a product of factors, $N = b \times c$, and one of its factors, $b$, is a multiple of another number, $a$, then $N$ is also a multiple of $a$. Using the associative property, we can see that if $b = k \times a$, then:

Examples