Multiples

What you land on counting up in a number.

Count up in fours

Start at 0 and count up in fours: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, and on. The numbers you land on are called the multiples of 4.

Each multiple of 4 is 4 times a whole number. 4 is 1 × 4, 8 is 2 × 4, 12 is 3 × 4, and 28 is 7 × 4. So a multiple of 4 is also a number that 4 divides exactly: 28 ÷ 4 = 7.

1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344454647484950515253545556575859606162636465666768697071727374757677787980818283848586878889909192939495969798991002 jumps of 4 = 8

2 jumps of 4 = 8

Count on to 40 in jumps of 4

Move the count on in jumps of 4. Every number it lands on is ringed, and the ringed numbers are the multiples of 4.

A whole number of jumps

On a number line, a multiple of 4 is a whole number of jumps of 4 away from 0. 12 is 3 jumps, because 3 × 4 = 12.

14 is not a multiple of 4. Three jumps reach 12, and a fourth jump goes past 14 to 16. 14 ÷ 4 = 3 remainder 2, and that remainder is why no jump lands on 14.

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Three jumps of 4 from 0 land on 4, 8 and 12.

They never stop

However far you count, one more jump of 4 always makes another multiple. 400 is a multiple of 4, because 100 × 4 = 400, and so is 404. So the list of multiples of 4 never ends.

Two slips

A number next to a multiple is not a multiple. 29 is one more than 28, and 29 ÷ 4 leaves 1, so counting in fours steps over it. 27 is one less, and 27 ÷ 4 leaves 3.

The number itself is on its own list. The first multiple of 4 is 1 × 4 = 4, so 4 is a multiple of 4.

Practice Multiples in the app