What is the greatest common factor of 72 and 252?a)12b)18c)45d)36Corre...
Prime factorization of 72
72 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 3
prime factorization of 252
252 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 7
To find the GCF, multiply all the prime factors common to both numbers:
Therefore, GCF = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3
GCF = 36
option D is correct answer
What is the greatest common factor of 72 and 252?a)12b)18c)45d)36Corre...
To find the greatest common factor (GCF) of 72 and 252, we need to determine the largest number that divides both numbers evenly.
Prime Factorization:
1. Let's start by finding the prime factorization of both numbers:
- Prime factorization of 72: 2^3 × 3^2
- Prime factorization of 252: 2^2 × 3^2 × 7
Finding the Common Factors:
2. Now, we need to identify the common factors between the two prime factorizations. The common factors are the prime factors that appear in both factorizations.
- Common prime factors: 2^2 × 3^2
Calculating the GCF:
3. To calculate the GCF, we multiply the common prime factors we found in step 2.
- GCF = 2^2 × 3^2
- GCF = 4 × 9
- GCF = 36
Therefore, the greatest common factor (GCF) of 72 and 252 is 36, which corresponds to option (d) in the given choices.