Understanding what factors of 5 and multiples of 6 are can be tricky, but fear not! We are here to give you an easy to follow guide on what they are and examples of how they can help in everyday life.
What Are Factors?
A factor is a number that divides into something else exactly. Numbers can only have whole number factors (no fractions). For example, the factors of 8 are 1, 2, 4, 8 because 1 times 8 is 8, 2 times 4 is 8, 4 times 2 is 8 and 8 times 1 is 8. To determine the number of factors of a number, you must find all the different combinations of multiplying two numbers to get the number.
Factors of 5
Now that you know what factors are, you need to understand what factors of 5 are. Factors of 5 are 1, 5. You can see this when you look at the equation: 1 time 5 is 5, 5 time 1 is also 5.
For example, if you are looking at a number line, the factors of 5 are 1 and 5. Since the line is broken up into five parts, the only numbers which can divide that line into equal parts are 1 and 5.
What Are Multiples?
Multiples are numbers that are in a sequence, usually created by multiplying two numbers. The first multiple of a number is that number itself. For example, if you’re looking at the multiples of 4, the first multiple is 4, second is 8, third is 12, etc.
It is helpful to think of multiples as “skip counting” by that number. For example, the multiples of 4 can be found by counting in 4s: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, etc.
What Are The First 5 Multiples Of 6?
The first 5 multiples of 6 are 6, 12, 18, 24, and 30.
To show how multiples of 6 work in everyday life, let’s look at a wall clock. On a 12-hour clock, the hands move by 6 once every hour. This means that 12, 18, 24, and 30 are all multiples of 6.
In summary, factors are numbers that divide into another number exactly, and multiples are numbers that are in a sequence and increase by the same amount each time. Factors of 5 are 1 and 5, and the first five multiples of 6 are 6, 12, 18, 24, and 30.
Understanding what factors and multiples of numbers are can help you in everyday life! Without knowing factors of 5 and multiples of 6, it would be difficult to keep track of time on a 12-hour clock. We hope this guide gave you a better understanding of factors and multiples!
Sources:
- The Science Dictionary. (2019). Factor. www.thesciencedictionary.org/factor/
- Math is Fun. (2020). Multiplication Table of 6. www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/multiplication-table-6.html