From: jac yates 
To: Teacher2Teacher Public Discussion
Date: 2008102018:41:01
Subject: Re: Re: HELP... Greatest Common Factors

On 2000062816:46:28, Suzanne A. wrote:
>Well, I guess it would be helpful to start by thinking about what a
>GCF is. GCF stands for Greatest Common Factor and if 850 is the GCF
of
>two numbers then that means that 850 is the largest number that will
>divide into both numbers evenly.
>
>So, I would start by listing some possible numbers that 850 will
>divide into. That would include:
>
>850  (850 X 1)
>1700 (850 X 2)
>2550 (850 X 3)
>3400 (850 X 4)
>and so on.....
>
>Now, let's consider the second condition. "Neither number is
divisible
>by the other. If we answered that the two numbers were 850 and 1700,
>you might agree that 850 divides into 1700 exactly two times. Also,
if
>you consider 1700 and 3400 we again find that 1700 divides into 3400
>exactly two times.
>
>What about 1700 and 2550? 1700 doesn't divide evenly into 2550! So, I
>think we found the two smallest numbers that fit all of the
>conditions.
>
>In general to decide the answer, I would start by listing the
>multiples of the GCF (the number times 1, the number times 2, the
>number times 3, etc.) and then consider the other conditions to
decide
>which numbers would satisfy all of the conditions.
>
>I hope that helps.
>
>
>

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