How do i find the highest and lowest common factor?
basic technique: find prime factorization 8 = 2 * 2 * 2 20 = 2 * 2 * 5 HCF is 2 * 2 = 4 (the product of the factors that appear in each factorization, in this case 2 * 2) 15 = 3 * 5 18 = 2 * 3 * 3 LCM (I assume you want least common multiple): 2 * 3 * 3 * 5 = 90 make sure that the largest number of each factor is accounted for in this case, 5 from the 15, and 2 * 3 * 3 from 18 90 / 15 = 6 90 / 18 = 5
The Highest Common Factor (H.C.F) of two (or more) numbers is the largest number that divides evenly into both numbers. In other words the H.C.F is the largest of all the common factors. The common factors or of 12 and 18 are 1, 2, 3 and 6. The largest common factor is 6, so this is the H.C.F. of 12 and 18. It is very easy to find a H.C.F. of small numbers, like 6 and 9 (it is 3) or 8 and 4 (it is 4). The best way is to keep finding the factors of the smaller number, starting from the largest factor. The first factor of the smaller number that is also a factor of the larger number is a H.C.F. -SO FOR 8 AND 20 THAT WOULD BE 4 🙂 SO TO FIND IT JUST LIST THE FACTORS OF THE 2 NUMBERS…2,4. SO THE HIGHEST ONE OF THOSE 2 IS 4..RESULTING IN YOUR HIGHEST COMMON FACTOR.
