What is the greatest common factor of 24 72and 132?

Answer 1

gcd(a,b) = greatest common divisor (or factor, whatever) of a and b.

For any set of number, a1, a2, a3, ..., you can use the Euclidean algorithm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euclidean_algorithm) to get the gcd(a1, a2), and then again to get gcd(gcd(a1, a2), a3), etc.

Often, though, you can eyeball it. So 24*3 = 72. Therefore, gcd(24, 72)=24. 24 does not divide 132, but 12 does (the next biggest factor of 24), so gcd(24, 72, 132)=12.

Answer 2

Oh, dude, the greatest common factor of 24, 72, and 132 is 12. It's like the cool kid at the math party that all three numbers can hang out with. So, yeah, 12 is the magical number that can divide all of them without any drama.