Question

What is the GCF of `18a^2b^2 − 6ab^2 + 12ab^3`?

Answer 1

GCF is `6ab^2`

Explanation:

Given: `18a^2b^2 - 6ab^2 + 12 ab^3`

The GCF is the greatest common factor. TO find it you can decompose each monomial:

`18a^2b^2: " "color(red)(2) * color(red)(3) * 3 * color(red)(a) * a * color(red)(b) * color(red)(b)`

`-6ab^2: " "-1 * color(red)(2) * color(red)(3) * color(red)(a) * color(red)(b) *color(red)(b)`

`12ab^3: " "color(red)(2) * 2 * color(red)(3) * color(red)(a) * color(red)(b) * color(red)(b) * b`

The GCF is `6ab^2`