Consider the numbers 40 and 75.

Question 1

What is the greatest common factor (GCF) of the given numbers?
Responses

A 2

B 3

C 5

D 7

1 answer

To find the greatest common factor (GCF) of the numbers 40 and 75, we can start by finding the prime factorization of each number:

  • Prime factorization of 40:

    • 40 can be divided by 2: \( 40 \div 2 = 20 \)
    • 20 can be divided by 2: \( 20 \div 2 = 10 \)
    • 10 can be divided by 2: \( 10 \div 2 = 5 \)
    • 5 is a prime number.

    So, the prime factorization of 40 is \( 2^3 \times 5 \).

  • Prime factorization of 75:

    • 75 can be divided by 3: \( 75 \div 3 = 25 \)
    • 25 can be divided by 5: \( 25 \div 5 = 5 \)
    • 5 is a prime number.

    Thus, the prime factorization of 75 is \( 3 \times 5^2 \).

Now, we can find the GCF by looking for the common prime factors:

  • The common prime factor is 5.

Now, to determine the GCF:

  • The GCF is \( 5^1 = 5 \).

So the greatest common factor (GCF) of 40 and 75 is 5.

Therefore, the answer is: C 5.