Calculate the Greatest Common Factor or GCF of 72 and 3138
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The instructions to find the GCF of 72 and 3138 are the next:
1. Decompose all numbers into prime factors
| 72 | 2 |
| 36 | 2 |
| 18 | 2 |
| 9 | 3 |
| 3 | 3 |
| 1 |
| 3138 | 2 |
| 1569 | 3 |
| 523 | 523 |
| 1 |
2. Write all numbers as the product of its prime factors
| Prime factors of 72 | = | 23 . 32 |
| Prime factors of 3138 | = | 2 . 3 . 523 |
3. Choose the common prime factors with the lowest exponent
Common prime factors: 2 , 3
Common prime factors with the lowest exponent: 21, 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 = 21. 31 = 6
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