What is the Greatest Common Factor of 4 and 12?

Greatest common factor (GCF) of 4 and 12 is 4.

GCF(4,12) = 4

We will now calculate the prime factors of 4 and 12, than find the greatest common factor (greatest common divisor (gcd)) of the numbers by matching the biggest common factor of 4 and 12.

How to find the GCF of 4 and 12?

We will first find the prime factorization of 4 and 12. After we will calculate the factors of 4 and 12 and find the biggest common factor number .

Step-1: Prime Factorization of 4

Prime factors of 4 are 2. Prime factorization of 4 in exponential form is:

4 = 2²

Step-2: Prime Factorization of 12

Prime factors of 12 are 2, 3. Prime factorization of 12 in exponential form is:

12 = 2² × 3¹

Step-3: Factors of 4

List of positive integer factors of 4 that divides 4 without a remainder.

1, 2

Step-4: Factors of 12

List of positive integer factors of 12 that divides 4 without a remainder.

1, 2, 3, 4, 6

Final Step: Biggest Common Factor Number

We found the factors and prime factorization of 4 and 12. The biggest common factor number is the GCF number.
So the greatest common factor 4 and 12 is 4.

Also check out the Least Common Multiple of 4 and 12