Calculate the Greatest Common Factor or GCF of 21, 42, 72 and 96
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The instructions to find the GCF of 21, 42, 72 and 96 are the next:
1. Decompose all numbers into prime factors
21 | 3 |
7 | 7 |
1 |
42 | 2 |
21 | 3 |
7 | 7 |
1 |
72 | 2 |
36 | 2 |
18 | 2 |
9 | 3 |
3 | 3 |
1 |
96 | 2 |
48 | 2 |
24 | 2 |
12 | 2 |
6 | 2 |
3 | 3 |
1 |
2. Write all numbers as the product of its prime factors
Prime factors of 21 | = | 3 . 7 |
Prime factors of 42 | = | 2 . 3 . 7 |
Prime factors of 72 | = | 23 . 32 |
Prime factors of 96 | = | 25 . 3 |
3. Choose the common prime factors with the lowest exponent
Common prime factors: 3
Common prime factors with the lowest exponent: 31
4. Calculate the Greatest Common Factor or GCF
Remember, to find the GCF of several numbers you must multiply the common prime factors with the lowest exponent.
GCF = 31 = 3
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