9514 1404 393
Answer:
Step-by-step explanation:
The GCF can be no larger than the difference between the numbers. That would be the first value you want to check to see if it is a factor of the numbers.
GCF(40, 50)
The difference is 10, which is a factor of both 40 and 50.
GCF(40, 50) = 10
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GCF(14, 56, 63)
You can figure the GCF pairwise, as GCF(14, 56) = 14; then GCF(14, 63) = 7. Or, you can look at the smallest difference between any pair of numbers. Here, that is 63 -56 = 7, which is a factor of all three numbers.
GCF(14, 56, 63) = 7
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Additional comment
Euclid's algorithm has you compute the remainder from division of the largest by the smallest. When that remainder is non-zero, it replaces the largest, and you repeat. When the remainder is zero, the smallest is the GCF.
For example, let's look at the GCF of 14 and 63.
63/14 = 4 r 7
14/7 = 2 r 0 . . . . . 7 is the divisor, so is the greatest common factor
