How do you find the GCF of 20 and 30?

1 Answer
Jan 11, 2017

The preferred technique is to factor each number then multiply all common factors together to find the greatest common factor.

Explanation:

First factor 20 down to its prime factors.

# 2 xx 2 xx 5#

Second factor 30 down to its prime factors

# 2 xx 3 xx 5 #

The common factors are 2 and 5.

The greatest common factor is # 2 xx 5= 10#

There are shortcuts that often work however

20 can be easily factored into # 2 xx 10# while
30 can be easily factored into # 3 xx 10#

10 can then be easily be seen as the greatest common factor.