Problem:
Let and be positive integers with no common factor greater than . What are the possible values for the greatest common divisor of and ?
Solution
Solution:
Let be a common divisor of both and , and therefore divides linear combinations of and . In particular,
As and don't share any common factors, the only common factors and have is . Hence , which means that or . This means that the greatest common divisor cannot be larger than .
We now show that both and can both occur.
Consider ,
Consider ,
Thus the only possible values for the greatest common divisor of and are and .
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