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In mathematics, the greatest common divisor (GCD), also known as greatest common factor (GCF), of two or more integers, which are not all zero, is the largest positive integer that divides each of the integers. For two integers x, y, the greatest common divisor of x and y is denoted (,).
The greatest common divisor g of a and b is the unique (positive) common divisor of a and b that is divisible by any other common divisor c. [6] The greatest common divisor can be visualized as follows. [7] Consider a rectangular area a by b, and any common divisor c that divides both a and b exactly.
A least common multiple of a and b is a common multiple that is minimal, in the sense that for any other common multiple n of a and b, m divides n. In general, two elements in a commutative ring can have no least common multiple or more than one. However, any two least common multiples of the same pair of elements are associates. [10]
A fraction that is reducible can be reduced by dividing both the numerator and denominator by a common factor. It can be fully reduced to lowest terms if both are divided by their greatest common divisor. [5] In order to find the greatest common divisor, the Euclidean algorithm or prime factorization can be used. The Euclidean algorithm is ...
This is equivalent to their greatest common divisor (GCD) being 1. [2] One says also a is prime to b or a is coprime with b. The numbers 8 and 9 are coprime, despite the fact that neither—considered individually—is a prime number, since 1 is their only common divisor. On the other hand, 6 and 9 are not coprime, because they are both ...
A third difference is that, in the polynomial case, the greatest common divisor is defined only up to the multiplication by a non zero constant. There are several ways to define unambiguously a greatest common divisor. In mathematics, it is common to require that the greatest common divisor be a monic polynomial.
Visualisation of using the binary GCD algorithm to find the greatest common divisor (GCD) of 36 and 24. Thus, the GCD is 2 2 × 3 = 12.. The binary GCD algorithm, also known as Stein's algorithm or the binary Euclidean algorithm, [1] [2] is an algorithm that computes the greatest common divisor (GCD) of two nonnegative integers.
In mathematics, the Euclidean algorithm, or Euclid's algorithm, is an efficient method for computing the greatest common divisor (GCD) of two integers, the largest number that divides them both without a remainder. It is named after the ancient Greek mathematician Euclid, who first described it in his Elements (c. 300 BC).