What is the Greatest Common Factor of 12 and 18?
Greatest common factor (GCF) of 12 and 18 is 6.
GCF(12,18) = 6
We will now calculate the prime factors of 12 and 18, than find the greatest common factor (greatest common divisor (gcd)) of the numbers by matching the biggest common factor of 12 and 18.
How to find the GCF of 12 and 18?
We will first find the prime factorization of 12 and 18. After we will calculate the factors of 12 and 18 and find the biggest common factor number .
Step-1: Prime Factorization of 12
Prime factors of 12 are 2, 3. Prime factorization of 12 in exponential form is:
12 = 22 × 31
Step-2: Prime Factorization of 18
Prime factors of 18 are 2, 3. Prime factorization of 18 in exponential form is:
18 = 21 × 32
Step-3: Factors of 12
List of positive integer factors of 12 that divides 12 without a remainder.
1, 2, 3, 4, 6
Step-4: Factors of 18
List of positive integer factors of 18 that divides 12 without a remainder.
1, 2, 3, 6, 9
Final Step: Biggest Common Factor Number
We found the factors and prime factorization of 12 and 18. The biggest common factor number is the GCF number.
So the greatest common factor 12 and 18 is 6.
Also check out the Least Common Multiple of 12 and 18