I am a factor of 36 and a multiple of 3. What number am I ?

Question

I am a factor of 36 and a multiple of 3. What number am I.

Answer 1

factors of 36 are 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18; of these, the multiples of 3 are 3, 6, 9, 12, 18.  So many answers exist.

Answer 2

Factors are the numbers that multiply together to form a number. For example:

 

2 x 3 = 6. 

 

2 and 3 are the factors in this case. 

 

For this problem, start by listing out the factors of 36 (meaning all of the numbers that when multiplied together give you 36).

 

1 x 36 = 36

2 x 18 = 36

3 x 12 = 36

4 x 9 = 36

6 x 6 = 36

 

So the factors of 36 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 36.

 

The next part asks for which of these numbers are a multiple of 3. Multiples are the end products of multiplying a number by another number. For example, multiples of 5 are 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, etc. Multiples of 4 are 4, 8, 12, 16, etc. 

 

So what are the multiples of three? Start with 3 times 1, then 3 times 2, and so on. 

The multiples of 3 are 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, etc. 

 

Looking at both sets of numbers, which numbers are both a factor of 36 and a multiple of 3? 

The answer is 3, 9, 12, 18, and 36.