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#1 2024-02-24 16:57:12
- nycguitarguy
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Find Common Factors
Find the common factors of 12x^2 & x^4.
Factors of 12: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12
Factors of x^2: x, x^2
Factors of x^4: x, x^2, x^3, x^4
Common factors: x, x^2
Is this correct?
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#2 2024-02-24 17:05:12
- Jai Ganesh
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Re: Find Common Factors
Hi FelizNYC,
Welcome the forum!
You are correct!
It appears to me that if one wants to make progress in mathematics, one should study the masters and not the pupils. - Niels Henrik Abel.
Nothing is better than reading and gaining more and more knowledge - Stephen William Hawking.
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#3 2024-02-24 20:33:40
- Bob
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Re: Find Common Factors
1 is also a common factor.
Bob
Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you! …………….Bob 
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#4 2024-02-24 20:42:38
- nycguitarguy
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Re: Find Common Factors
Hi FelizNYC,
Welcome the forum!
You are correct!
Jai
Bob also said that 1 is a common factor, too. The number 1 does not appear multiple times. Explain.
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#5 2024-02-24 20:44:43
- nycguitarguy
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Re: Find Common Factors
1 is also a common factor.
Bob
Bob,
The number 1 does not appear multiple times. I listed all the factors of 12x^2 and x^4. The number 1 appears on the list for factors of 12 only. You say?
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#6 2024-02-24 20:46:09
- nycguitarguy
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Re: Find Common Factors
Bob wrote:1 is also a common factor.
Bob
Bob,
The number 1 does not appear multiple times. I listed all the factors of 12x^2 and x^4. The number 1 appears on the list for factors of 12 only once. You say?
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#7 2024-02-24 21:30:08
- Bob
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Re: Find Common Factors
The factors of x^2 are {1, x, x^2}
The factors of x^4 are {1, x, x^2, x^3, x^4}
1 is always a factor of anything because it always divides exactly. So it is always a common factor.
Bob
Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you! …………….Bob
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#8 2024-02-24 21:54:23
- Jai Ganesh
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- Registered: 2005-06-28
- Posts: 46,266
Re: Find Common Factors
Bob wrote:1 is also a common factor.
Bob
Bob,
The number 1 does not appear multiple times. I listed all the factors of 12x^2 and x^4. The number 1 appears on the list for factors of 12 only. You say?
When counting the factors, it goes without saying 1 is a factor; it is obvious. For example, in perfect numbers, the first perfect numbers are 6, 28, ...
When we talk of factors, one and the number itself are excluded, by convention.
It appears to me that if one wants to make progress in mathematics, one should study the masters and not the pupils. - Niels Henrik Abel.
Nothing is better than reading and gaining more and more knowledge - Stephen William Hawking.
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#9 2024-02-25 02:02:21
- nycguitarguy
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- Registered: 2024-02-24
- Posts: 491
Re: Find Common Factors
The factors of x^2 are {1, x, x^2}
The factors of x^4 are {1, x, x^2, x^3, x^4}
1 is always a factor of anything because it always divides exactly. So it is always a common factor.
Bob
Ok. I will post more later.
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#10 2024-02-25 02:05:26
- nycguitarguy
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- Registered: 2024-02-24
- Posts: 491
Re: Find Common Factors
FelizNYC wrote:Bob wrote:1 is also a common factor.
Bob
Bob,
The number 1 does not appear multiple times. I listed all the factors of 12x^2 and x^4. The number 1 appears on the list for factors of 12 only. You say?
When counting the factors, it goes without saying 1 is a factor; it is obvious. For example, in perfect numbers, the first perfect numbers are 6, 28, ...
When we talk of factors, one and the number itself are excluded, by convention.
1. What do you mean by perfect number?
2. You said: . . ."one and the number itself are excluded, by convention." What do you mean by this statement?
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