Meena says 24 is a factor of 12, because 12 times 2 equals 24

Why

Meena has the multiplication fact exactly right — 12 × 2 really does equal 24, that arithmetic is solid. What's flipped is which word belongs to which number. A factor of 12 is a number that divides evenly INTO 12, giving a whole number with nothing left over — 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12 itself. 24 does not do that: 12 ÷ 24 is not a whole number, so 24 cannot be a factor of 12. Instead, 24 is a MULTIPLE of 12 — a number you get by multiplying 12 by something. Picture factors as smaller pieces that fit exactly inside a number, like bricks that stack up to build it, and multiples as bigger buildings you could build using that number as one brick. 12 is a brick that fits into 24; 24 is not a brick that fits into 12. Kunal is right — 24 is a multiple of 12, not a factor of it, and the two words point in opposite directions.