Ian has 12 math books and 18 science books. If he wants to distribute them evenly among some bookshelves so that each bookshelf has the same combination of math and science books, with no books left over, what is the greatest number of bookshelves Ian can use?_____ bookshelves
Q. Ian has 12 math books and 18 science books. If he wants to distribute them evenly among some bookshelves so that each bookshelf has the same combination of math and science books, with no books left over, what is the greatest number of bookshelves Ian can use?_____ bookshelves
Identify Problem: Identify the problem: We need to find the greatest number of bookshelves that can be used such that each shelf has the same number of math and science books without any left over.
Determine Method: Determine the method: To solve this, we need to find the Greatest Common Factor (GCF) of the number of math books 12 and science books 18.
Calculate GCF: Calculate the GCF: List the factors of 12 (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12) and 18 (1, 2, 3, 6, 12, 18). The common factors are 1, 2, 3, and 6. The greatest of these is 6.
Conclusion: Conclusion: Ian can use 6 bookshelves to distribute his books evenly. Each shelf will have 2 math books and 3 science books.