1. the Euclidean Algorithm the Common Divisors of Two Numbers Are the Numbers That Are Divisors of Both of Them
1. The Euclidean Algorithm The common divisors of two numbers are the numbers that are divisors of both of them. For example, the divisors of 12 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12. The divisors of 18 are 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18. Thus, the common divisors of 12 and 18 are 1, 2, 3, 6. The greatest among these is, perhaps unsurprisingly, called the of 12 and 18. The usual mathematical notation for the greatest common divisor of two integers a and b are denoted by (a, b). Hence, (12, 18) = 6. The greatest common divisor is important for many reasons. For example, it can be used to calculate the of two numbers, i.e., the smallest positive integer that is a multiple of these numbers. The least common multiple of the numbers a and b can be calculated as ab . (a, b) For example, the least common multiple of 12 and 18 is 12 · 18 12 · 18 = . (12, 18) 6 Note that, in order to calculate the right-hand side here it would be counter- productive to multiply 12 and 18 together. It is much easier to do the calculation as follows: 12 · 18 12 = = 2 · 18 = 36. 6 6 · 18 That is, the least common multiple of 12 and 18 is 36. It is important to know the least common multiple when adding two fractions. For example, noting that 12 · 3 = 36 and 18 · 2 = 36, we have 5 7 5 · 3 7 · 2 15 14 15 + 14 29 + = + = + = = . 12 18 12 · 3 18 · 2 36 36 36 36 Note that this way of calculating the least common multiple works only for two numbers.
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