A missing-number fact asks which number makes the sentence true. For 4 × ? = 24, ask 'how many fours make 24?' and use the division fact 24 ÷ 4 = 6. For a division with a missing number, use the matching multiplication fact. For bigger numbers, take out ten groups first, then find how many groups are left.
Explore this idea with maths tools
Equal groups
3 × 4 = 12
12 ÷ 3 = 4
The same picture shows multiplication and division. Each group must have the same number.
Words to know
- factor
- a number that is multiplied
- product
- the answer to a multiplication
- related fact
- a multiplication and division that use the same three numbers
Worked examples
4 × ? = 24
- 1.How many fours make 24?
- 2.24 ÷ 4 = 6, and 4 × 6 = 24.
= 6
? ÷ 6 = 7
- 1.Undo dividing by 6 by multiplying: 7 × 6 = 42.
- 2.Check: 42 ÷ 6 = 7.
= 42
6 × ? = 84
- 1.10 × 6 = 60, so the missing number is more than 10.
- 2.84 − 60 = 24, and 24 ÷ 6 = 4.
- 3.10 + 4 = 14.
= 14
For parents
Method: Use the related fact
What to say: Read it as a sentence: 4 times what makes 24? Which table helps?
Common mistakes:
- Multiplies the two numbers shown instead of finding the number that makes the fact true.
- Uses adding or subtracting to find the missing number in a multiplication or division fact.
- Skip-counts to the total but counts the starting number as a jump, so the answer is one group too many.
- Takes out ten groups using the ten-times fact and stops, forgetting the groups still in what is left.