LESSON 3 Factors

Tile Problems and Factors

Use Square-Inch Grid Paper or tiles to help you solve these problems. Write a number sentence to go with each problem.

1. Roberto made a rectangle with 6 rows and 5 tiles in each row. How many tiles did he use?
2. Jackie made a rectangle with 21 tiles. There were 7 tiles in each row. How many rows were there?
3. Shannon made a rectangle with 32 tiles. If there were 4 rows, how many tiles were in each row?
4. Then Shannon made a different rectangle with her 32 tiles. What other rectangle could Shannon have made?
5. A rectangle of 12 tiles has 3 different colors. There is an equal number of tiles of each color. How many tiles of each color are there?

When a rectangle can be made with tiles, the 2 sides of the rectangle are called factors of the total number of tiles used. Roberto's rectangle in Question 1 has sides of 6 and 5 tiles so he can write the number sentence 6 5 = 30. Roberto's rectangle shows that 5 and 6 are factors of 30.