Last updated on August 5th, 2025
The GCF is the largest number that can divide two or more numbers without leaving any remainder. GCF is used to share items equally, to group or arrange items, and schedule events. In this topic, we will learn about the GCF of 40 and 48.
The greatest common factor of 40 and 48 is 8. The largest divisor of two or more numbers is called the GCF of the numbers. If two numbers are co-prime, they have no common factors other than 1, so their GCF is 1. The GCF of two numbers cannot be negative because divisors are always positive.
To find the GCF of 40 and 48, a few methods are described below:
Steps to find the GCF of 40 and 48 using the listing of factors:
Step 1: Firstly, list the factors of each number.
Factors of 40 = 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 20, 40.
Factors of 48 = 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24, 48.
Step 2: Now, identify the common factors of them. Common factors of 40 and 48: 1, 2, 4, 8.
Step 3: Choose the largest factor. The largest factor that both numbers have is 8.
The GCF of 40 and 48 is 8.
To find the GCF of 40 and 48 using the Prime Factorization Method, follow these steps:
Step 1: Find the prime factors of each number.
Prime Factors of 40: 40 = 2 x 2 x 2 x 5 = 2³ x 5
Prime Factors of 48: 48 = 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 = 2⁴ x 3
Step 2: Now, identify the common prime factors.
The common prime factors are: 2 x 2 x 2 = 2³
Step 3: Multiply the common prime factors. 2³ = 8.
The Greatest Common Factor of 40 and 48 is 8.
Find the GCF of 40 and 48 using the division method or Euclidean Algorithm Method. Follow these steps:
Step 1: First, divide the larger number by the smaller number.
Here, divide 48 by 40. 48 ÷ 40 = 1 (quotient),
The remainder is calculated as 48 − (40×1) = 8.
The remainder is 8, not zero, so continue the process.
Step 2: Now divide the previous divisor (40) by the previous remainder (8).
Divide 40 by 8. 40 ÷ 8 = 5 (quotient), remainder = 40 − (8×5) = 0.
The remainder is zero, the divisor will become the GCF.
The GCF of 40 and 48 is 8.
Finding GCF of 40 and 48 looks simple, but students often make mistakes while calculating the GCF. Here are some common mistakes to be avoided by the students.
A teacher has 40 notebooks and 48 markers. She wants to group them into equal sets, with the largest number of items in each group. How many items will be in each group?
We should find the GCF of 40 and 48.
GCF of 40 and 48 is 2³ = 8.
There are 8 equal groups.
40 ÷ 8 = 5
48 ÷ 8 = 6
There will be 8 groups, and each group gets 5 notebooks and 6 markers.
As the GCF of 40 and 48 is 8, the teacher can make 8 groups.
Now divide 40 and 48 by 8.
Each group gets 5 notebooks and 6 markers.
A school has 40 red chairs and 48 blue chairs. They want to arrange them in rows with the same number of chairs in each row, using the largest possible number of chairs per row. How many chairs will be in each row?
GCF of 40 and 48 2³ = 8. So each row will have 8 chairs.
There are 40 red and 48 blue chairs. To find the total number of chairs in each row, we should find the GCF of 40 and 48. There will be 8 chairs in each row.
A tailor has 40 meters of red fabric and 48 meters of blue fabric. She wants to cut both fabrics into pieces of equal length, using the longest possible length. What should be the length of each piece?
For calculating the longest equal length, we have to calculate the GCF of 40 and 48.
The GCF of 40 and 48 is 2³ = 8.
The fabric is 8 meters long.
For calculating the longest length of the fabric first, we need to calculate the GCF of 40 and 48, which is 8. The length of each piece of fabric will be 8 meters.
A carpenter has two wooden planks, one 40 cm long and the other 48 cm long. He wants to cut them into the longest possible equal pieces, without any wood left over. What should be the length of each piece?
The carpenter needs the longest piece of wood. GCF of 40 and 48
2³ = 8.
The longest length of each piece is 8 cm.
To find the longest length of each piece of the two wooden planks, 40 cm and 48 cm, respectively, we have to find the GCF of 40 and 48, which is 8 cm. The longest length of each piece is 8 cm.
If the GCF of 40 and ‘b’ is 8, and the LCM is 240, find ‘b’.
The value of ‘b’ is 48.
GCF × LCM = product of the numbers
8 × 240 = 40 × b
1920 = 40b
b = 1920 ÷ 40 = 48
Hiralee Lalitkumar Makwana has almost two years of teaching experience. She is a number ninja as she loves numbers. Her interest in numbers can be seen in the way she cracks math puzzles and hidden patterns.
: She loves to read number jokes and games.