What is the Greatest Common Factor of 18 and 36?

Greatest common factor (GCF) of 18 and 36 is 18.

GCF(18,36) = 18

We will now calculate the prime factors of 18 and 36, than find the greatest common factor (greatest common divisor (gcd)) of the numbers by matching the biggest common factor of 18 and 36.

How to find the GCF of 18 and 36?

We will first find the prime factorization of 18 and 36. After we will calculate the factors of 18 and 36 and find the biggest common factor number .

Step-1: Prime Factorization of 18

Prime factors of 18 are 2, 3. Prime factorization of 18 in exponential form is:

18 = 2¹ × 3²

Step-2: Prime Factorization of 36

Prime factors of 36 are 2, 3. Prime factorization of 36 in exponential form is:

36 = 2² × 3²

Step-3: Factors of 18

List of positive integer factors of 18 that divides 18 without a remainder.

1, 2, 3, 6, 9

Step-4: Factors of 36

List of positive integer factors of 36 that divides 18 without a remainder.

1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18

Final Step: Biggest Common Factor Number

We found the factors and prime factorization of 18 and 36. The biggest common factor number is the GCF number.
So the greatest common factor 18 and 36 is 18.

Also check out the Least Common Multiple of 18 and 36