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Consider the following questions.

  • Willie is putting some snacks on plates. He has 72 satay sticks and 48 chicken wings. He wants both kinds of food on each plate for each guest. He wants to distribute the food evenly and have none left over. What is the greatest number of guests he can serve?
  • Nurul has 3 ropes. Their lengths are 150 m and 175 m respectively. She wants to cut up the 3 ropes such that the resulting pieces are all of equal length and there is no rope left over. What is the maximum length each cut-up rope can have?
  • Write the fraction 78/84 in its simplest form.

What is the mathematical tool that facilitates the solving of these 3 questions?

That’s right, you guessed it (it’s in the title!) – Greatest Common Factor (GCF)

There are several different methods of finding the GCF of a given pair of numbers. In this lesson, we will explore using Euclid’s method. [Euclid is a Greek mathematician who lived in 300 BC. Often referred to as the “Father of Geometry”, his name is enshrined in the set of theorems he deduced – “Euclidean geometry”]. Let’s watch a video demonstration of Euclid’s GCF method in action!

As part of the Joyous Learning Mathematics curriculum, we regularly introduce students to interesting or fun mathematical ideas (under the Mad Maths section) that are related to but not covered in Primary School Mathematics syllabus.

Enrol your children in our Mathematics enrichment programmes to immerse them in the richness of numbers and numerals.

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