Greatest Common

Factor (GCF)
 Greatest Common Factor (GCF)

Vocabulary:
 Greatest Common Factor – the largest factor that
two or more numbers have in common.
Greatest Common Factor (GCF)

When thinking about finding the Greatest

Common Factor, or the GCF…

THINK BACKWARDS
F…Find the Factors
C…Circle Common Factors
G…Group Largest Factor
Greatest Common Factor (GCF)

But if that’s too hard…

Simply THINK

G…Greatest (largest)
C…Common (shared)
F…Factor
 Greatest Common Factor (GCF)

Important to Remember…

There areTWO methods for finding the

GCF of two or more numbers…

Method 1…Use Book Ends

Method 2…Use Prime Factorization
 Greatest Common Factor (GCF)
Finding the GCF: Method 1 – Book Ends
Example 1: Find the GCF of 24 and 36.
Step 1: Find the factors of each number.
Step 2: Circle the common factors of the numbers
Step 3: Group or circle the largest factor they have in common
 Greatest Common Factor (GCF)
Finding the GCF: Method 1 – Book Ends
Example 1: Find the GCF of 24 and 36.
Step 1: Find the factors of each number.
Step 2: Circle the common factors of the numbers
Step 3: Group or circle the largest factor they have in common

24: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24
36: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, 36

The GCF of 24 and 36 is 12

 Greatest Common Factor (GCF)
Finding the GCF: Method 2 – Prime Factorization
Example 1: Find the GCF of 24 and 36.
Step 1: Find the prime factorization of each number.
Step 2: Find the product of the common prime factors
 Greatest Common Factor (GCF)
Finding the GCF: Method 2 – Prime Factorization
Example 1: Find the GCF of 24 and 36.
Step 1: Find the prime factorization of each number.
Step 2: Find the product of the common prime factors

24 36 24: 2 · 2 · 2 ·
2 1 2 1 36
3 6: 2 · 2 · 3 ·
22 6 22 6 3
2 3 3 3 2·2·3=
12GCF = 12
2·2·2·3 2·2·3·
 Greatest Common Factor (GCF)
Finding the GCF: Method 1 – Book Ends
Example 2: Find the GCF of 12 and 24.
Step 1: Find the factors of each number.
Step 2: Circle the common factors of the numbers
Step 3: Group or circle the largest factor they have in common
 Greatest Common Factor (GCF)
Finding the GCF: Method 1 – Book Ends
Example 2: Find the GCF of 12 and 24.
Step 1: Find the factors of each number.
Step 2: Circle the common factors of the numbers
Step 3: Group or circle the largest factor they have in common

12: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12
24: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24

The GCF of 12 and 24 is 12

 Greatest Common Factor (GCF)
Finding the GCF: Method 2 – Prime Factorization
Example 2: Find the GCF of 12 and 24.
Step 1: Find the prime factorization of each number.
Step 2: Find the product of the common prime factors
 Greatest Common Factor (GCF)
Finding the GCF: Method 2 – Prime Factorization
Example 2: Find the GCF of 12 and 24.
Step 1: Find the prime factorization of each number.
Step 2: Find the product of the common prime factors

12 24 12: 2 · 2 · 3
2 6 2 1 24: 2 · 2 · 2 ·
2 3 22 6 3
2 3 2·2·3=
12GCF = 12
2·2·3 2·2·3·
 Greatest Common Factor (GCF)
Finding the GCF: Method 1 – Book Ends
Example 3: Find the GCF of 16 and 20.
Step 1: Find the factors of each number.
Step 2: Circle the common factors of the numbers
Step 3: Group or circle the largest factor they have in common
 Greatest Common Factor (GCF)
Finding the GCF: Method 1 – Book Ends
Example 3: Find the GCF of 16 and 20.
Step 1: Find the factors of each number.
Step 2: Circle the common factors of the numbers
Step 3: Group or circle the largest factor they have in common

16: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16
20: 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 20

The GCF of 16 and 20 is 4

 Greatest Common Factor (GCF)
Finding the GCF: Method 2 – Prime Factorization
Example 3: Find the GCF of 16 and 20.
Step 1: Find the prime factorization of each number.
Step 2: Find the product of the common prime factors
 Greatest Common Factor (GCF)
Finding the GCF: Method 2 – Prime Factorization
Example 3: Find the GCF of 16 and 20.
Step 1: Find the prime factorization of each number.
Step 2: Find the product of the common prime factors

16 20 16: 2 · 2 · 2 ·
2 8 2 1 20
2 :2·2·5
2 4 20 5
2 2 2·2=4
GCF = 4
2·2·2· 2·2·5
 Greatest Common Factor (GCF)

Important to Remember…

There areTWO methods for finding the

GCF of two or more numbers…

Method 1…Use Book Ends

Method 2…Use Prime Factorization
 Greatest Common Factor (GCF)
Guided Practice Problems
Directions: Find the GCF of each set of numbers.

1. 9, 12, 30
2. 42, 60
3. 48, 64
4. 40a2b, 48ab4
 Greatest Common Factor (GCF)
Guided Practice Problems
Directions: Find the GCF of each set of numbers.

1. 9, 12, 30 => 3
2. 42, 60 => 6
3. 48, 64 => 16
4. 40a2b, 48ab4 => 8ab