Question

hi my name is alicia and am havin truble finding the gcf of 252 and 480

Answer 1

\[252=2\cdot 2\cdot 3\cdot\ 3\cdot 7\]
\[480=2\cdot 2\cdot 2\cdot 2\cdot 2\cdot 3\cdot 5\]
GCF is \[2\cdot 2\cdot 3=12\]

Answer 2

480 - 252 = 228
252 - 228 = 24
252 - 10 x 24 = 12
12 | 24 => 12 is the GCF

See 'Euclidean Algorithm' for more.

You can do it the babyish way above for small numbers, but when prime factorisation is computationally difficult, you'll come crawling back to Euclid.