What is the greatest common factor for 12 and 18?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking for the greatest common factor (GCF) of the numbers 12 and 18. This involves determining the largest integer that divides both numbers without leaving a remainder.
Answer
6
Answer for screen readers
The greatest common factor of 12 and 18 is 6
Steps to Solve
- List the factors of each number
First, find all the factors of 12 and 18.
Factors of 12: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12
Factors of 18: 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18
- Identify the common factors
Next, determine the common factors from both lists.
Common factors of 12 and 18: 1, 2, 3, 6
- Find the greatest common factor
The greatest common factor is the largest number in the list of common factors.
So, the greatest common factor is 6.
The greatest common factor of 12 and 18 is 6
More Information
Finding the GCF can be done using prime factorization or the Euclidean algorithm. However, listing the factors and finding the largest common one is often the simplest method.
Tips
A common mistake is to miss one of the factors of one or both numbers or to incorrectly list the common factors. Double-checking each step will help avoid these errors.
