What is the greatest common factor (GCF) of 8 and 12?

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Multiple Choice

What is the greatest common factor (GCF) of 8 and 12?

Explanation:
Finding the greatest common factor means finding the biggest number that divides both numbers exactly. For 8 and 12, the factors of 8 are 1, 2, 4, and 8; the factors of 12 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12. The common factors are 1, 2, and 4, with 4 being the largest. So the greatest common factor is 4. You can also see this with prime factorization: 8 = 2^3 and 12 = 2^2 × 3. The common part is 2^2, which equals 4. Choices like 2 are smaller common factors, while 3 isn’t a factor of 8, and 6 isn’t a factor of 8, so they aren’t the greatest common factor.

Finding the greatest common factor means finding the biggest number that divides both numbers exactly. For 8 and 12, the factors of 8 are 1, 2, 4, and 8; the factors of 12 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12. The common factors are 1, 2, and 4, with 4 being the largest. So the greatest common factor is 4. You can also see this with prime factorization: 8 = 2^3 and 12 = 2^2 × 3. The common part is 2^2, which equals 4. Choices like 2 are smaller common factors, while 3 isn’t a factor of 8, and 6 isn’t a factor of 8, so they aren’t the greatest common factor.

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