What is the Greatest Common Factor of 36 and 42?
Greatest common factor (GCF) of 36 and 42 is 6.
GCF(36,42) = 6
We will now calculate the prime factors of 36 and 42, than find the greatest common factor (greatest common divisor (gcd)) of the numbers by matching the biggest common factor of 36 and 42.
How to find the GCF of 36 and 42?
We will first find the prime factorization of 36 and 42. After we will calculate the factors of 36 and 42 and find the biggest common factor number .
Step-1: Prime Factorization of 36
Prime factors of 36 are 2, 3. Prime factorization of 36 in exponential form is:
36 = 22 × 32
Step-2: Prime Factorization of 42
Prime factors of 42 are 2, 3, 7. Prime factorization of 42 in exponential form is:
42 = 21 × 31 × 71
Step-3: Factors of 36
List of positive integer factors of 36 that divides 36 without a remainder.
1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18
Step-4: Factors of 42
List of positive integer factors of 42 that divides 36 without a remainder.
1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 14, 21
Final Step: Biggest Common Factor Number
We found the factors and prime factorization of 36 and 42. The biggest common factor number is the GCF number.
So the greatest common factor 36 and 42 is 6.
Also check out the Least Common Multiple of 36 and 42