Question

Gary found 72 shells and 40 coins at the beach. He wants to give them to some of his friends. Each friend will receive the same number of shells and the same number of coins. What is the greatest number of friends Gary can give shells and coins to? How many shells will each friend receive? How many coins? Select your answers from the drop-down lists.

Answer 1

Gary can distribute the 72 shells and 40 coins among 8 friends, with each receiving 9 shells and 5 coins.

The question involves Gary who has found 72 shells and 40 coins at the beach and wishes to distribute them evenly among his friends. The greatest number of friends he can give shells and coins to is determined by finding the highest common divisor (HCD) or greatest common divisor (GCD) of the two numbers, which in this case is 8. Therefore, Gary can distribute the shells and coins among 8 friends. Each friend would receive 9 shells and 5 coins.

To find this solution, we apply the GCD function:

Calculate GCD of 72 and 40, GCD(72, 40) = 8.

Divide the total number of shells by the GCD: 72 / 8 = 9 shells per friend.

Divide the total number of coins by the GCD: 40 / 8 = 5 coins per friend.