What are composite numbers?

A composite number is like a cookie that can be broken into smaller pieces, each piece is also a cookie.

Imagine you have a big chocolate chip cookie. If you can break it into two or more smaller cookies, and those smaller cookies are still whole cookies (not crumbly bits), then the big cookie is a composite number.

Now think about numbers instead of cookies. A composite number is a number that can be divided evenly by other numbers besides just 1 and itself. For example, the number 6 can be broken down into 2 and 3, both are whole numbers, so 6 is a composite number.

If you can find at least one pair of numbers that multiply to make your number (other than 1 and itself), then it’s composite. For example:

• 4 = 2 × 2
• 8 = 2 × 4
• 9 = 3 × 3

But if a number only has two divisors, 1 and itself, like 5 or 7, then it's not a composite number. Those are called prime numbers, and they’re like cookies that can’t be broken down any further!