Question

What is the Greatest Common Factor of 8 and 36?
A. 2
B. 4
C. 6
D. 8

Answer 1

//List all the factors for both 8 and 36
8: 1, 2, 4, 8
36: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, 36

The highest number in both of these is 4, therefore B

Answer 2

The greatest common factor is 4.

Explanation:

The easiest way to do this exercise is to make two lists: one with all the factors of the number 8, and another with all the factors of 36. Thus,

Factors of 8 : {1, 2, 4, 8}

Factors of 36: {1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, 36}

Then, we found that the common factors are {1, 2, 4}. So, as the larger number in the last list is 4, we conclude that the greatest common factor is 4.