How many friends will she have?

Question

Mary has 36 stickers and 27 bracelets. She wants to pass them out to her friends. Each friend must get the same number of stickers and the same number of bracelets with none left over. What is the greatest number of friends Mary can evenly divide the stickers and the bracelets among?

Answer 1

The greatest common factor of 36 and 27 is 9:

36 = 3 x 3 x 2 x 2 = 9x4

27 = 3 x 3 x 3 = 9x3

 

So if we split the items up then we can give 9 friends

each 4 stickers and 3 bracelets.