What is the greatest common factor of 16 and 36?

The greatest common factor of 16 and 36 is 4.

The common factors of 16 and 36 are 1, 2, and 4.

Methods:

One way to determine the common factors and greatest common factor is to find all the factors of the numbers and compare them.

The factors of 16 are 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16.

The factors of 36 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 36.

The common factors are 1, 2, and 4. Therefore, the greatest common factor is 4.

The greatest common factor can also be calculated by identifying the common prime factors and multiplying them together.

The prime factors of 16 are 2, 2, 2, and 2.

The prime factors of 36 are 2, 2, 3, and 3.

The prime factors in common are 2 and 2, so the greatest common factor is 2 x 2 = 4. Note that 16 is a power of 2, so the GCF can only be one of them.
The GCF is 4.