Calculate the Greatest Common Factor or GCF of 72 and 3540
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The instructions to find the GCF of 72 and 3540 are the next:
1. Decompose all numbers into prime factors
72 | 2 |
36 | 2 |
18 | 2 |
9 | 3 |
3 | 3 |
1 |
3540 | 2 |
1770 | 2 |
885 | 3 |
295 | 5 |
59 | 59 |
1 |
2. Write all numbers as the product of its prime factors
Prime factors of 72 | = | 23 . 32 |
Prime factors of 3540 | = | 22 . 3 . 5 . 59 |
3. Choose the common prime factors with the lowest exponent
Common prime factors: 2 , 3
Common prime factors with the lowest exponent: 22, 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 = 22. 31 = 12
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