What is the Greatest Common Factor of 72 and 84?
Greatest common factor (GCF) of 72 and 84 is 12.
GCF(72,84) = 12
We will now calculate the prime factors of 72 and 84, than find the greatest common factor (greatest common divisor (gcd)) of the numbers by matching the biggest common factor of 72 and 84.
How to find the GCF of 72 and 84?
We will first find the prime factorization of 72 and 84. After we will calculate the factors of 72 and 84 and find the biggest common factor number .
Step-1: Prime Factorization of 72
Prime factors of 72 are 2, 3. Prime factorization of 72 in exponential form is:
72 = 23 × 32
Step-2: Prime Factorization of 84
Prime factors of 84 are 2, 3, 7. Prime factorization of 84 in exponential form is:
84 = 22 × 31 × 71
Step-3: Factors of 72
List of positive integer factors of 72 that divides 72 without a remainder.
1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36
Step-4: Factors of 84
List of positive integer factors of 84 that divides 72 without a remainder.
1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 12, 14, 21, 28, 42
Final Step: Biggest Common Factor Number
We found the factors and prime factorization of 72 and 84. The biggest common factor number is the GCF number.
So the greatest common factor 72 and 84 is 12.
Also check out the Least Common Multiple of 72 and 84