Multiple (mathematics)

A multiple is a special kind of number you get when you multiply any whole number by another whole number, called an integer.

For example, if you have the number 3 and multiply it by 4, you get 12. In this case, 12 is a multiple of 3.

When two numbers are both whole numbers, and one is a multiple of the other, the smaller number is called a divisor of the larger one.

The word "multiple" can also be used in other areas of math. For example, in algebra, a polynomial can be a multiple of another polynomial.

Examples

Some numbers are multiples of 7, like 14, 49, -21, and 0. These can be made by multiplying 7 by another whole number. For example, 14 is 7 times 2, 49 is 7 times 7, -21 is 7 times -3, and 0 is 7 times 0.

Other numbers, like 3 and -6, are not multiples of 7. This is because when you try to write them as 7 multiplied by another number, that other number is not a whole number.

Properties

In math, a multiple is when you multiply a number by another whole number. For example, zero is a multiple of every number because zero times any number equals zero. Any whole number multiplied by one stays the same, so every number is a multiple of itself. If you have two numbers that are multiples of another number, adding or subtracting those two numbers will also give you a multiple of that same number.

Submultiple

In some books, we say that "a is a submultiple of b" when a is one part of b divided by a number. For example, a millimetre is one-thousandth of a metre, and one inch can be thought of as one-twelfth of a foot or one-thirty-sixth of a yard.