Question

Identify the greatest common factor of 12a^4b^7 and 18a^5b^3 .

Answer 1

We prime factorize each term: $12a^4b^7$ $= 2^2\cdot 3\cdot a^4,b^7$ and $18a^5b^3 = 2\cdot 3^2\cdot a^5b^3$. The greatest common factor is $2\cdot 3 = \boxed{6}$.