Final answer:
The greatest number of students in the class is 7.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the greatest number of students in the class, we need to find the greatest common divisor of the number of erasers and pencils. This is because each student receives the same number of erasers and pencils, and we want to distribute all the supplies without any left over.
The greatest common divisor of 63 and 72 is 9. So, each student in the art class would receive 9 erasers and 9 pencils.
To find the greatest number of students, we divide the total number of erasers (63) and pencils (72) by the greatest common divisor (9), which gives us 7.
Therefore, the greatest number of students in the class is 7.