High School

What is the greatest common factor (GCF) of [tex]$36x^4$[/tex] and [tex]$48x^3$[/tex]?

A. [tex]$12x^7$[/tex]
B. [tex]$12x^3$[/tex]

Answer :

Certainly! Let's find the greatest common factor (GCF) of the expressions [tex]\(36x^4\)[/tex] and [tex]\(48x^3\)[/tex] step-by-step.

1. Identify the coefficients:

The coefficients are the numerical parts in front of the variables in each expression.
- In [tex]\(36x^4\)[/tex], the coefficient is 36.
- In [tex]\(48x^3\)[/tex], the coefficient is 48.

2. Find the GCF of the coefficients:

To find the GCF of 36 and 48, list the factors:
- Factors of 36: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, 36
- Factors of 48: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24, 48

The common factors are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12. The greatest of these is 12.

3. Identify the variable parts:

Both expressions have the variable [tex]\(x\)[/tex].
- In [tex]\(36x^4\)[/tex], the power of [tex]\(x\)[/tex] is 4.
- In [tex]\(48x^3\)[/tex], the power of [tex]\(x\)[/tex] is 3.

4. Find the GCF of the variable parts:

For [tex]\(x^4\)[/tex] and [tex]\(x^3\)[/tex], take the lower of the exponents. The lower power of [tex]\(x\)[/tex] is [tex]\(x^3\)[/tex].

5. Combine the GCF of the coefficients and the variable parts:

- GCF of coefficients is 12.
- GCF of variable parts is [tex]\(x^3\)[/tex].

Therefore, the GCF of [tex]\(36x^4\)[/tex] and [tex]\(48x^3\)[/tex] is [tex]\(12x^3\)[/tex].

That's the complete step-by-step process to find the GCF of the given expressions. The result is [tex]\(12x^3\)[/tex].