By Eric Tosso | Updated Aug 30, 2022
A natural number is any positive integer—whole numbers greater than zero. Numbers like 1, 28, 100 are natural; 28.5 or -3 are not.
Multiplication combines two or more numbers to produce a product. For example, 2 × 3 = 6, where 6 is the product of 2 and 3.
A factor is a number that divides another number without leaving a remainder. In the product 5 × 6 = 30, the numbers 5 and 6 are factors of 30.
Every natural number can be expressed as a product of at least one pair of factors. For instance:
Each pair of numbers that multiplies to a specific product is called a factor pair. Prime numbers, like 17, have only the trivial pair 1 and itself.
