GCF of 18 and 27

Find the Greatest Common Factor (GCF) of 18 and 27 with a complete step-by-step solution. The GCF is the largest number that divides both numbers without leaving a remainder.

GCF of and
Answer: GCF(18, 27) = 9
Step-by-Step Solution
Step 1 Find the Factors of 18

To find the GCF of 18 and 27, we first need to find all factors of each number.

The factors of 18 are numbers that divide 18 evenly:


1 × 18 = 18, 2 × 9 = 18, 3 × 6 = 18

Factors of 18: 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18

Step 2 Find the Factors of 27

Now we find all factors of 27:


1 × 27 = 27, 3 × 9 = 27

Factors of 27: 1, 3, 9, 27

Step 3 Find the Common Factors

The common factors are numbers that appear in both lists:


Factors of 18: 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18

Factors of 27: 1, 3, 9, 27


Common factors: 1, 3, 9


The Greatest Common Factor is the largest of these: 9

Step 4 Prime Factorization Method

We can also find the GCF using prime factorization:


18 = 2 × 3^2
27 = 3^3

Take the common prime factors with the lowest powers:

GCF = 3 × 3 = 9
Step 5 Euclidean Algorithm

The Euclidean algorithm is a fast way to find the GCF using repeated division:


27 = 1 × 18 + 9
18 = 2 × 9 + 0

When the remainder is 0, the GCF is the last divisor: 9

Step 6 Final Answer

GCF(18, 27) = 9