highestCommon

Factor (HCF)
 Highest Common Factor (HCF)

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

When thinking about finding the Highest

Common Factor, or the HCF…

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

But if that’s too hard…

Simply THINK

H…highest (largest)
C…Common (shared)
F…Factor
 Highest Common Factor (HCF)

Important to Remember…

There areTWO methods for finding the

HCF of two or more numbers…

Method 1…Use Book Ends

Method 2…Use Prime Factorization
 Highest Common Factor (HCF)
Finding the HCF: Method 1 – Book Ends
Example 1: Find the HCF 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
 Highest Common Factor (HCF)
Finding the HCF: Method 1 – Book Ends
Example 1: Find the HCF 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 HCF of 24 and 36 is 12

 Highest Common Factor (HCF)
Finding the HCF: Method 2 – Prime Factorization
Example 1: Find the HCF of 24 and 36.
Step 1: Find the prime factorization of each number.
Step 2: Find the product of the common prime factors
 Highest Common Factor (HCF)
Finding the HCF: Method 2 – Prime Factorization
Example 1: Find the HCF 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=
12HCF = 12
2·2·2·3 2·2·3·
 Highest Common Factor (HCF)
Finding the HCF: Method 1 – Book Ends
Example 2: Find the HCF 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
 Highest Common Factor (HCF)
Finding the HCF: Method 1 – Book Ends
Example 2: Find the HCF 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 HCF of 12 and 24 is 12

 Highest Common Factor (HCF)
Finding the HCF: Method 2 – Prime Factorization
Example 2: Find the HCF of 12 and 24.
Step 1: Find the prime factorization of each number.
Step 2: Find the product of the common prime factors
 Highest Common Factor (HCF)
Finding the HCF: Method 2 – Prime Factorization
Example 2: Find the HCF 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=
12HCF = 12
2·2·3 2·2·3·
 Highest Common Factor (HCF)
Finding the HCF: Method 1 – Book Ends
Example 3: Find the HCF 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
 Highest Common Factor (HCF)
Finding the HCF: Method 1 – Book Ends
Example 3: Find the HCF 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 HCF of 16 and 20 is 4

 Highest Common Factor (HCF)
Finding the HCF: Method 2 – Prime Factorization
Example 3: Find the HCF of 16 and 20.
Step 1: Find the prime factorization of each number.
Step 2: Find the product of the common prime factors
 Highest Common Factor (HCF)
Finding the HCF: Method 2 – Prime Factorization
Example 3: Find the HCF 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
HCF = 4
2·2·2· 2·2·5
 Highest Common Factor (HCF)

Important to Remember…

There areTWO methods for finding the

HCF of two or more numbers…

Method 1…Use Book Ends

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

1. 9, 12, 30
2. 42, 60
3. 48, 64
 Highest Common Factor (HCF)
Guided Practice Problems
Directions: Find the HCF of each set of numbers.

1. 9, 12, 30 => 3
2. 42, 60 => 6
3. 48, 64 => 16