Factors divide into other numbers exactly, with no remainders.
Take these eight tasty ants for example. They can be divided into one group of eight.
But we can also divide eight into two lots of four.
So the factors are one, two, four and eight.
But if the ants want to hang out in threes, it will cause a few problems.
Eight won't divide into three equal groups. There's always a couple left on their own.
So three is not a factor of eight.
I don't think our hungry anteater was expecting any leftovers.
What are factors?
Factors are numbers that divide exactly into another number.
For example, the factors of 8 are:
1, 2, 4, 8
Factors can be shown in pairs. Each pair multiplies to make 8.
The factor pairs of 8 can be shown:
1 x 8 = 8
2 x 4 = 8
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More on Number and number processes
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