Find the greatest common factor of the list of numbers.
18 and 42
The greatest common factor of 18 and 42 is ___
6
To find the greatest common factor of 18 and 42, you can follow these steps:
1. First, list down all the factors of each number. The factors of 18 are 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, and 18. The factors of 42 are 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 14, 21, and 42.
2. Identify the common factors between the two lists. The common factors of 18 and 42 are 1, 2, 3, and 6.
3. Finally, determine the highest common factor from the list of common factors. In this case, the greatest common factor of 18 and 42 is 6.
Therefore, the answer is 6.
To find the greatest common factor (GCF) of 18 and 42, we can use the prime factorization method.
First, let's find the prime factorization of both numbers:
The prime factorization of 18 is 2 × 3 × 3.
The prime factorization of 42 is 2 × 3 × 7.
Now, we can find the GCF by multiplying the common prime factors with the lowest exponents:
GCF = 2 × 3 = 6.
Therefore, the greatest common factor of 18 and 42 is 6.