What is the greatest common factor of 5 and 12?

Understand the Problem

The question is asking for the greatest common factor (GCF) of the two numbers 5 and 12. The GCF is the largest positive integer that divides both numbers without leaving a remainder.

Answer

The GCF of 5 and 12 is $1$.

Steps to Solve

List the factors of each number

Start by finding the factors of both numbers, 5 and 12.

Factors of 5: The only factors are 1 and 5 (since 5 is a prime number).
Factors of 12: The factors are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12.

Identify the common factors

Next, look for the factors that both numbers share.

Common factors of 5 and 12: The only common factor is 1.

Determine the greatest common factor

Among the common factors, identify the greatest one, which is the GCF.

The greatest common factor is 1.

The greatest common factor (GCF) of 5 and 12 is 1.

More Information

The GCF is particularly useful in simplifying fractions and finding common denominators. In this case, since 5 is a prime number, it only shares the factor 1 with 12, which is why the GCF is 1.

Tips

A common mistake is to think that prime numbers have more factors. Remember, prime numbers only have two factors: 1 and themselves.

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