what factors does 28 and 44 have in common

Question

well i think that it would be 4 because that is what can go in  both of those numbers 

Answer 1

If you do a "prime factorization" of each number, you will see that 4 is indeed one common factor of 28 and 44:

 

28 = 7*2*2

44 = 11*2*2

 

11 and 7 are prime numbers so they can't be further broken down into factors.  So the common factors are 2 and 2*2 = 4

Answer 2

You are correct.  4, or they may want 2, because each number can be represented by

 

28 = 2 * 2 * 7   and

 

44 = 2 * 2 * 11

 

So the factors are 2's, but there is (2*2) in each number.  I think they are looking for the answer 2.

Answer 3

I would say that both 2 and 4 are common factors.....but 4 is called the greatest common factor.