Mathematics
Greatest Common Divisor (GCD)/ Highest Common Factor (HCF)
A group of related sciences, including algebra, geometry, and calculus, concerned with the study of number, quantity, shape, and space and their interrelationships by using a specialized notation
Greatest Common Divisor (GCD)/ Highest Common Factor (HCF)
Greatest common divisor of a set of numbers
Greatest common divisor of a set of numbers
G.C.F tutorial
Greatest Common Factor is sometimes called Highest Common Factor. Its short form is (GCF) or (HCF) respectively. The Greatest Common Factor is the largest common divisor of two or more numbers given.
For example if you are told to find the GCF of 15 and 25. First, list all factors or divisors of 15 and that of 25. Thus, factors of 15 are 1, 3, 5, 15factors of 25 are 1, 5, 25
The common factors are 1 and 5. Therefore the GCF is 5.
Example 1
Example1
Find the HCF of 72 and 120.
Solution
We have to list factors of our numbers:
Factors of 72 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 72
Factors of 120 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 24, 30, 40, 60, 120
The common factors are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24.
Therefore the HCF of 72 and 120 is 24.
Another method which can be used to find the GCF or HCF is prime factorization method.
Example 2
Example
Find the HCF of 36 and 48.
Solution
We have to find prime factors of 36 and 48 first
thus, 36 = 2×2×3×3.
48 = 2×2×2× 2×3.
After writing the numbers as a product of their prime factors, take only the common prime factors (prime factors appeared to all numbers). In our example the common factors are 2×2×3. Therefore the HCF of 36 and 48 is 12.
Lowest Common Multiple (LCM)
Lowest Common Multiple is also called Least Common Multiple and its short form is LCM.For example: multiples of 5 are 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, …multiples of 3 are 3, 9, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, ….
When you look carefully at these multiples of 5 and 3 you notes that 15 had appeared to both. This multiple which appear to both is called a common multiple. If there are more than one common multiples which appeared the smaller common multiple is what is called Lowest Common Multiple.
Example 3
Find the common multiples and then show the Lowest Common Multiple of the numbers 4, 6 and 8.
Solution
Multiples of 4 are 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, …
Multiples of 6 are 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 42, 48, 54, 60, …
Multiples of 8 are 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 72, …
The common multiples of 4, 6 and 8 are 24, 48, …
Therefore the Lowest Common Multiple of 4, 6, and 8 is 24.
We can find the Lowest Common Multiple (LCM) of numbers by writing the numbers as a product of their prime factors. The method is called prime factorization.
Example 4
Find the LCM of 24 and 36 by prime factorization method.
Solution
Let us find prime factors of each number by dividing the numbers by their prime factors.
Now take the prime factors which appear to both numbers i.e. 2×2×3 (we take without repeating). We are left with 2 which is a multiple of 24 and 3 which is a multiple 36. We have also to multiply these prime factors left i.e. 2×2×2×3×3. This gives 72. Therefore the LCM of 24 and 36 is 2×2×2×3×3= 72.
Here is a tutorial o n L.C.M
Application of GCD
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