Factors & Multiples

Success Criteria

At the end of this chapter, students are able to:

1. State the definition of a natural number and a whole number.

2. Determine if a number is a factor or multiple of another number.

3. Determine if a number is a prime number or a composite number.

4. Express a whole number as a product of prime factors.

5. Find the HCF and LCM of 2 or more numbers.

6. Find the square/cube root of a perfect square/cube.

7. Solve word problems involving LCM and HCF (AO2).

8. Justify if a number is square or cubic number (AO3).

Introduction

Arithmetic is the study of numbers. The word Arithmetic comes from the Greek word, Arithmos, meaning number. A good place to begin is to classify numbers in different groups and studying the properties of each group.

In this chapter, we are going to start by examining 3 groups of numbers:

(i) Natural Numbers;

(ii) Whole Numbers; and

(iii) Prime Numbers.

Next we will learn about two special sub-group of numbers related to the Natural Numbers & Prime numbers known as factors and multiples.

Extension of Learning

For students who wish to explore a little bit further into this topic, we will learn about how these numbers are applied in real life for digital crytography.

The Math Olympiad materials for this chapter will cover Trailing Zeroes & Divisibility Tests.

Next: Let's learn about Natural Numbers and Whole Numbers.