Question

The greatest common divisor of $16,24$ and $36$ is

• A. $2$
• B. $4$
• C. $8$
• D. $16$

Answer 1

The correct option is B $4$

Step 1: Let's find the prime factors of 16, 24 and 36 using ladder method


Prime factorization of the numbers $16,24$ and $36:$
16 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = $2^4$
24 = 2 × 2 × 2× 3 = $2^3$ × 3
36 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 = $2^2\times 3^2$

The greatest common divisor of these numbers is the product of their common prime factors, that is $2^2=4$