Zayed is helping his classmates get ready for their math test by making them identical packages of pencils and calculators. He h
as 72 pencils and 24 calculators and he must use all of the pencils and calculators. If Zayed creates the greatest number of identical packages possible, how many ls will be in each package?
So 72 pencils and 24 calculators so greates number of identical calculators
this means what is the biggest number that we can divide 72 and 24 by and get a whole number this is called the GCM or greatest common multipule
to find the GCM, you factor 72 and group the like ones 72=2 times 2 times 2 times 3 times 3 24=2 times 2 times 2 times 3 so the common group is 2 times 2 times 2 times 3 or 24 so the greates number of packs is 24
so pencils 72 divided by 24=72/24=3 3 pencils per pack
, we could write
