What is the greatest common factor of 42 and 50?

Understand the Problem

The question is asking for the greatest common factor (GCF) between the two numbers: 42 and 50. The GCF is the largest positive integer that divides both numbers without leaving a remainder.

Answer

The GCF of 42 and 50 is $2$.
Answer for screen readers

The greatest common factor (GCF) of 42 and 50 is $2$.

Steps to Solve

  1. List the factors of each number

Start by finding all the factors of 42 and 50.

  • Factors of 42: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 14, 21, 42
  • Factors of 50: 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50
  1. Identify the common factors

Next, identify the factors that both numbers share.

Common factors of 42 and 50 are: 1 and 2.

  1. Determine the greatest common factor

Finally, from the common factors, choose the largest one.

The greatest common factor (GCF) is: 2.

The greatest common factor (GCF) of 42 and 50 is $2$.

More Information

The greatest common factor is useful in many areas of math, such as simplifying fractions, finding least common multiples, and solving problems involving ratios.

Tips

  • Forgetting to list all factors, which can lead to missing some common factors.
  • Confusing GCF with least common multiple (LCM), which are two different concepts.
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