What is the greatest common factor of the expression: 32a3b2+36a2c16ab3?

1 Answer
Mar 5, 2017

The GCF is 4a

Explanation:

32,36,and16 are all divisible by 4 and nothing higher.

Each term has an a

bandc do not appear in all the terms, so they are not common.

The GCF is therefore 4a

As a check , factor 4a out and see if there is still a common factor.

32a3b2+36a2c16ab3

=4a(8a2b2+9ac4b3)

There is no common factor in (8a2b2+9ac4b3)