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    Finding GCF and LCM

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    Hervie Cruz Eroles
    The document discusses finding the greatest common factor (GCF) and least common multiple (LCM) of two numbers. It explains that the GCF is the largest factor common to both numbers, while the LCM is the smallest number that is a multiple of both. It provides an example of finding the GCF of 48 and 72 (which is 24) and the LCM of 12 and 9 (which is 36). Methods using prime factorizations are described.

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    Finding GCF and LCM

    Uploaded by

    Hervie Cruz Eroles
    41 views2 pages
    The document discusses finding the greatest common factor (GCF) and least common multiple (LCM) of two numbers. It explains that the GCF is the largest factor common to both numbers, while the LCM is the smallest number that is a multiple of both. It provides an example of finding the GCF of 48 and 72 (which is 24) and the LCM of 12 and 9 (which is 36). Methods using prime factorizations are described.

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    The document discusses finding the greatest common factor (GCF) and least common multiple (LCM) of two numbers. It explains that the GCF is the largest factor common to both numbers, while the LCM is the smallest number that is a multiple of both. It provides an example of finding the GCF of 48 and 72 (which is 24) and the LCM of 12 and 9 (which is 36). Methods using prime factorizations are described.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    41 views2 pages

    Finding GCF and LCM

    Uploaded by

    Hervie Cruz Eroles
    The document discusses finding the greatest common factor (GCF) and least common multiple (LCM) of two numbers. It explains that the GCF is the largest factor common to both numbers, while the LCM is the smallest number that is a multiple of both. It provides an example of finding the GCF of 48 and 72 (which is 24) and the LCM of 12 and 9 (which is 36). Methods using prime factorizations are described.

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    Factors and Multiples

    www.beijingmath.com

    Finding GCF and LCM

    If we write down the factors of 12 and 15, they are:


    Factors of 12: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12
    The common factors of 12 and 15: 1, 3
    Factors of 15: 1, 3, 5, 15
    The greatest common factor (abbreviated GCF) is the largest common factor. That is, it is the largest
    factor common to both lists, which is 3.

    Next we define the least common multiple (abbreviated LCM) as the smallest common multiple of two
    different numbers. Given the two numbers 2 and 3, first list the multiples of each:
    Multiples of 2: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, ……
    Multiples of 3: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, ……
    So 6 is the LCM of 2 and 3, since it is the smallest number common to both lists of multiples.

    Example 1

    Find the greatest common factor of 48 and 72.

    Explanation

    Method 1:
    factors of 72: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24, 9, 18, 36, 72 The common factor of 48 and 72:
    factors of 48: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24, 16, 48 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24

    Therefore, the greatest common factor of 48 and 72 is 24.

    Method 2:
    List the prime factors, then multiply the common prime factors.
    72 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3
    48 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 ×2

    2 × 2 × 2 × 3 = 24
    Therefore, the greatest common factor of 48 and 72 is 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 = 24.

    Example 2

    Find the lowest common multiple of 12 and 9.


    1
    Explanation

    Method 1:
    multiples of 12: 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, …… The common multiples of 12 and 9:
    36, 72, ……
    multiples of 9: 9, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54, 63, 72, ……
    Therefore, the lowest common multiple of 12 and 9 is 36.

    Method 2:
    First do a factorization to prime factors, with the factors lined up according to occurrence.
    Then carry down all the factors and then multiply.
    12 = 3 ×2×2
    9=3×3

    3 × 3 × 2 × 2 = 36
    Therefore, the lowest common multiple of 12 and 9 is 3 × 3 × 2 × 2 = 36.

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