What is the Greatest Common Factor of 1971 and 1986?

Greatest common factor (GCF) of 1971 and 1986 is 3.

GCF(1971,1986) = 3

We will now calculate the prime factors of 1971 and 1986, than find the greatest common factor (greatest common divisor (gcd)) of the numbers by matching the biggest common factor of 1971 and 1986.

How to find the GCF of 1971 and 1986?

We will first find the prime factorization of 1971 and 1986. After we will calculate the factors of 1971 and 1986 and find the biggest common factor number .

Step-1: Prime Factorization of 1971

Prime factors of 1971 are 3, 73. Prime factorization of 1971 in exponential form is:

1971 = 3³ × 73¹

Step-2: Prime Factorization of 1986

Prime factors of 1986 are 2, 3, 331. Prime factorization of 1986 in exponential form is:

1986 = 2¹ × 3¹ × 331¹

Step-3: Factors of 1971

List of positive integer factors of 1971 that divides 1971 without a remainder.

1, 3, 9, 27, 73, 219, 657

Step-4: Factors of 1986

List of positive integer factors of 1986 that divides 1971 without a remainder.

1, 2, 3, 6, 331, 662, 993

Final Step: Biggest Common Factor Number

We found the factors and prime factorization of 1971 and 1986. The biggest common factor number is the GCF number.
So the greatest common factor 1971 and 1986 is 3.

Also check out the Least Common Multiple of 1971 and 1986