What type of number is characterized by having more than two factors?

A composite number is defined as a whole number that has more than two positive factors. Factors are numbers that can be multiplied together to yield the original number. For instance, the number 6 is composite because it can be divided evenly by 1, 2, 3, and 6, thus having four factors. In general, composite numbers start from 4 onwards (4, 6, 8, 9, etc.), as they can be formed by multiplying two smaller natural numbers, indicating that they have more than two distinct positive divisors.

In contrast, a prime number is defined as a natural number greater than 1 that only has two factors: 1 and itself. Whole numbers include all non-negative integers (0, 1, 2, 3, ...), while integers encompass all whole numbers and their negative counterparts. Neither whole numbers nor integers are specifically characterized by the number of factors they possess, distinguishing composite numbers as the correct answer for this particular question.