Myriora Maths › Maths foundations › Chapter 6: Factors, multiples and primes

Multiples

Ages 7–9Chapter 6 · Lesson 2

In this lesson

Multiples come from the times table.
They go on forever.
Common multiples are in two lists at once.
And don't mix them up with factors, which go into a number exactly.

Your turn

Which of these numbers is a multiple of seven?

Show the answer

Count up in sevens: seven, fourteen, twenty-one, twenty-eight, thirty-five, forty-two. Forty-two is six sevens, so it's a multiple of seven!

The common mistake

Here's a question that catches lots of people. Write down the first four multiples of six. Some people write one, two, three, six. But those are the factors of six! The multiples come from the six times table: six, twelve, eighteen, twenty-four.

Try it at home

Clap on every multiple of 3 while counting to 30, and stamp on every multiple of 5. What happens at 15 and 30?

Read the whole lesson

Hello, and welcome to Myriora Maths! Three, six, nine, twelve: what comes next? These are the multiples of three. Let's find out what multiples are, and how they're different from factors!

A multiple of three is what you get when you times three by a whole number. One three is three. Two threes are six. Three threes are nine. On a number line, it's like jumping in threes, starting from zero.

So the multiples of three are just the three times table. But they don't stop at thirty-six! They go on and on: thirty-nine, three hundred, three thousand, thirty thousand. There are always more.

Here are the multiples of three on a number square. Look: they make a pattern of diagonal stripes! Multiples of five make two straight columns, because they always end in five or zero.

Some numbers are multiples of two numbers at once. Multiples of two: two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve. Multiples of three: three, six, nine, twelve. Six and twelve are in both lists! They're called common multiples, and they'll be very useful later.

Don't mix up factors and multiples. A factor goes into a number exactly: three is a factor of twelve. A multiple comes out of the times table: twelve is a multiple of three. Factors are small, and there are only a few. Multiples get bigger and bigger, and they go on forever.

Let's try one together. Is thirty-five a multiple of five? Think: is it in the five times table? Say it out loud!

Yes! Seven fives are thirty-five. And it ends in five, just like every multiple of five.

Your turn! Which of these numbers is a multiple of seven? Pick the right card. You've got fifteen seconds, or pause the video. Go!

Time's up! Count up in sevens: seven, fourteen, twenty-one, twenty-eight, thirty-five, forty-two. Forty-two is six sevens, so it's a multiple of seven!

Quick review. Multiples come from the times table. They go on forever. Common multiples are in two lists at once. And don't mix them up with factors, which go into a number exactly. See you next time!