Factor Lines

Arrange the four number cards on the grid, according to the rules, to make a diagonal, vertical or horizontal line.
Exploring and noticing Working systematically Conjecturing and generalising Visualising and representing Reasoning, convincing and proving
Being curious Being resourceful Being resilient Being collaborative




Arrange the four number cards (1, 2, 3 and 21) on the grid above to make a diagonal, vertical or horizontal line.

You can put a number card on a square with

  • a multiple of that number
  • a factor of that number.


In how many different ways can you do it? Can you use a strategy that you haven't tried before?

You can use the interactivity above or this sheet. The interactivity keeps track of the number of different lines you have created and you can view the lines you've already made by clicking 'Show lines'.

This problem has been adapted from the book "Cards on the Table" by Fran Mosley, published by BEAM Education. This book is out of print but can still be found on Amazon.