Talk:Greatest common divisor

Example is redundant

Oops, maybe I shouldn't have put in an example of Euclid's algorithm, since such an example is already given on the Euclid's algorithm page. --Catherine Woodgold 08:38, 13 May 2007 (CDT)

Why so complicate?

$60=2^{2}\times 3^{1}\times 5^{1}$

$72=2^{3}\times 3^{2}\times 5^{0}$

So for the gcd you have take take the smallest exponents: :$\operatorname {gcd} (60,72)=2^{2}\times 3^{1}\times 5^{0}=4\times 3=12$

lcm is similar: You have to take the gratest exponents: :$\operatorname {lcm} (60,72)=2^{3}\times 3^{2}\times 5^{1}=8\times 9\times 5=360$

--arbol01 19:01, 15 July 2007 (CDT)

That's what the article says. Are you suggesting that there's some difference between what you wrote above and what the article says? Michael Hardy 09:38, 16 July 2007 (CDT)

highest common factor?

In number theory, I never read the term "highest common factor", but my Oxford dictionary and google seem to know it quite well. Is this perhaps a term used at school level? Peter Schmitt 23:41, 26 June 2009 (UTC)