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Greatest Common Divisor

The greatest common divisor (GCD) of two numbers is the largest positive integer that divides both numbers without a remainder. Euclid's algorithm is an efficient method to calculate the GCD of two numbers by repeatedly finding the remainder of dividing the larger number by the smaller number and setting the larger number equal to the smaller number and the smaller number to the remainder, until the remainder is zero. For example, to find the GCD of 412 and 260, Euclid's algorithm applies the formula gcd(412, 260) = gcd(260, 152) = gcd(152, 108) = ... = 4.

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1K views4 pages

Greatest Common Divisor

The greatest common divisor (GCD) of two numbers is the largest positive integer that divides both numbers without a remainder. Euclid's algorithm is an efficient method to calculate the GCD of two numbers by repeatedly finding the remainder of dividing the larger number by the smaller number and setting the larger number equal to the smaller number and the smaller number to the remainder, until the remainder is zero. For example, to find the GCD of 412 and 260, Euclid's algorithm applies the formula gcd(412, 260) = gcd(260, 152) = gcd(152, 108) = ... = 4.

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Yasyr
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Greatest Common Divisor (GCD)

• a common problem in number theory

• GCD (a,b) of a and b is the largest number that divides evenly into both a and
b

– eg GCD(60,24) = 12

• often want no common factors (except 1) and hence numbers are


relatively prime

– eg GCD(8,15) = 1

– hence 8 & 15 are relatively prime

Euclid's GCD Algorithm

• an efficient way to find the GCD(a,b)

• uses theorem that:

– GCD(a,b) = GCD(b, a mod b)

• Euclid's Algorithm to compute GCD(a,b):

– A=a, B=b

– while B>0

• R = A mod B

• A = B, B = R

– return A

Euler's Theorem

• a generalisation of Fermat's Theorem

• aø(n)mod n = 1

– where gcd(a,n)=1

• eg.

– a=3;n=10; ø(10)=4;

– hence 34 = 81 = 1 mod 10

– a=2;n=11; ø(11)=10;

– hence 210 = 1024 = 1 mod 11


Galois Fields GF

Relatively Prime Numbers & GCD

• two numbers a, b are relatively prime if have no common divisors apart from
1

– eg. 8 & 15 are relatively prime since factors of 8 are 1,2,4,8 and of 15
are 1,3,5,15 and 1 is the only common factor

• conversely can determine the greatest common divisor by comparing their


prime factorizations and using least powers

– eg. 300=21×31×52 18=21×32 hence GCD(18,300)=21×31×50=6

Euclid's GCD Algorithm

• An efficient way to find the GCD(a,b)

• uses theorem that:

– GCD(a,b) = GCD(b, a mod b)

– gcd(55,22)=gcd(22,55 mod 22)=gcd(22,11)=11

• Euclid's Algorithm to compute GCD(a,b):

EUCLID(a,b)

1. A ←a; B ←b

2. If B=0 return A=gcd(a,b)

3. R = A mod B

4. A ← B

5. B ← R

6. goto 2

Example GCD(1970,1066)

1970 = 1 x 1066 + 904 gcd(1066, 904)


1066 = 1 x 904 + 162 gcd(904, 162)

904 = 5 x 162 + 94 gcd(162, 94)

162 = 1 x 94 + 68 gcd(94, 68)

94 = 1 x 68 + 26 gcd(68, 26)

68 = 2 x 26 + 16 gcd(26, 16)

26 = 1 x 16 + 10 gcd(16, 10)

16 = 1 x 10 + 6 gcd(10, 6)

10 = 1 x 6 + 4 gcd(6, 4)

6=1x4+2 gcd(4, 2)

4=2x2+0 gcd(2, 0)

Greatest common divisor


The Euclidean algorithm calculates the greatest common divisor (GCD) of two natural numbers
a and b. The greatest common divisor g is the largest natural number that divides both a and b
without leaving a remainder. Synonyms for the GCD include the greatest common factor (GCF),
the highest common factor (HCF), and the greatest common measure (GCM). The greatest
common divisor is often written as GCD(a, b) or, more simply, as (a, b),[2] although the latter
notation is also used for other mathematical concepts, such as two-dimensional vectors.
If GCD(a, b) = 1, then a and b are said to be coprime.[3] This property is independent of whether
a and b are themselves prime numbers.[4] For example, neither 6 nor 35 is a prime number, since
they both have two prime factors: 6 = 2 × 3 and 35 = 5 × 7. Nevertheless, 6 and 35 are coprime.
No natural number other than 1 divides both 6 and 35, since they have no prime factors in
common.

A 24-by-60 rectangle is covered with ten 12-by-12 square tiles, where 12 is the GCD of 24 and
60. More generally, an a-by-b rectangle can be covered with square tiles of side-length c only if
c is a common divisor of a and b.
Let g = GCD(a, b). Since a and b are both multiples of g, they can be written a = mg and b = ng,
and there is no larger number G > g for which this is true. The natural numbers m and n must be
coprime, since any common factor can be factored out of m and n to make g greater. Thus, any
other number c that divides both a and b must also divide g. The greatest common divisor g of a
and b can be defined as the common divisor that is divisible by any other common divisor c.[5]
The GCD can be visualized as follows.[6] Consider a rectangular area a by b, and any common
divisor c that divides both a and b exactly. The sides of the rectangle can be divided into
segments of length c, which divides the rectangle into a grid of squares of side length c. The
greatest common divisor g is the largest value of c for which this is possible. For illustration, a
24-by-60 rectangular area can be divided into a grid of: 1-by-1 squares, 2-by-2 squares, 3-by-3
squares, 6-by-6 squares or 12-by-12 squares. Therefore, 12 is the greatest common divisor of 24
and 60. A 24-by-60 rectangular area can be divided into a grid of 12-by-12 squares, with two
squares along one edge (24/12 = 2) and five squares along the other (60/12 = 5).
The GCD of two numbers a and b can be defined as the product of the prime factors shared by
the two numbers.[7] For example, since 462 can be factored into 2 × 3 × 7 × 11 and 1071 can be
factored into 3 × 3 × 7 × 17, the greatest common divisor of 462 and 1071 equals 21 = 3 × 7, the
product of their shared prime factors. If two numbers have no prime factors in common, their
greatest common divisor is 1—they are coprime. A key advantage of the Euclidean algorithm is
that it can find the GCD efficiently without having to compute the prime factors. Factorization of
large integers is believed to be such a difficult problem that many modern cryptography systems
are based upon it.[10]
A more subtle definition of the GCD is helpful in advanced mathematics, particularly ring
theory.[11] The greatest common divisor g of two numbers a and b is also their smallest integer
multiple, that is, the smallest number of the form ua + vb where u and v are integers. It follows
that the set of all integer multiples of a and b (all numbers ua + vb) is the same as the set of all
integer multiples of g (mg, where m is an integer). In modern mathematical language, the ideal
formed by a and b is a principal ideal generated by g. The equivalence of this GCD definition
with the other definitions is described below.
The GCD of three or more numbers equals the product of the prime factors common to all the
numbers,[12] which can be calculated by taking the GCDs of pairs of numbers.[13] For example,
GCD(a, b, c) = GCD(a, GCD(b, c)) = GCD(GCD(a, b), c) = GCD(GCD(a, c), b).
Thus, Euclid's algorithm, which computes the GCD of two integers, suffices to calculate the
GCD of arbitrarily many integers.
Euclid’s GCD Algorithm
Euclid’s algorithm for
computing the GCD
repeatedly applies the
formula
gcd(a, b) = gcd(b, a mod b)
Example gcd(412, 260) = 4
a 412 260 152 108 44 20 4
b 260 152 108 44 20 4 0

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