Flashcards for:
GCF: Greatest Common Factor
What website is recommended for further help with math topics?
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www.mathantics.com is recommended for further help with math topics.
What is a factor?
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A factor is a whole number that's part of a multiplication problem.
How do you determine what factors a number has?
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You determine factors by finding what numbers could be multiplied together to get that number.
Can a number have more than two factors?
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Yes, a number can have more than two factors.
What are the factors of 12?
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The factors of 12 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12.
What is a 'trivial factor'?
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Trivial factors are 1 and the number itself, which can be easily found.
What does it mean for factors to be 'common'?
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Common factors are factors that two numbers share.
How do you find the greatest common factor of two numbers?
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List all of their factors and pick the largest value that’s common to both lists.
What is the greatest common factor of 12 and 42?
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The greatest common factor of 12 and 42 is 6.
Why would you want to find the greatest common factor?
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One use is for simplifying fractions by canceling common factors.
How do you simplify the fraction 12/42 using the greatest common factor?
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Divide both the numerator and denominator by their greatest common factor, which is 6, to get 2/7.
What is the purpose of simplifying fractions?
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To express the fraction in its simplest form by removing common factors.
Can all fractions be simplified?
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Fractions can be simplified if the numerator and denominator have common factors.
What is the simplest form of the fraction 12/42?
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The simplest form of the fraction 12/42 is 2/7.
What might make finding the greatest common factor inefficient?
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If it takes many steps to determine the greatest common factor, it might not save much time.
What is an example of factoring two numbers to find their product?
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Multiplying 3 and 4 to get 12 shows that 3 and 4 are factors of 12.
Why is 1 always a factor of any number?
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Because you can multiply any number by 1 and get back that number itself.
How do you know if a number can be simplified?
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If both the numerator and denominator of a fraction share common factors, it can be simplified.
What example shows that simplifying by smaller common factors might not achieve the simplest fraction form?
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Simplifying 12/42 to 6/21 by dividing by 2 does not reach the simplest form, which is 2/7.
What website is recommended for further help with math topics?
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www.mathantics.com is recommended for further help with math topics.
What is a factor?
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A factor is a whole number that's part of a multiplication problem.