find the greatest common factor of 108d^2 and 216d

The variables must have the same base.
If one variable is raised to a power and the other is not, the GCF is the variable that does not have a power.
If one variable is raised to a power and the other is raised to a power of lesser value, the GCF is the variable with the lesser value power.

The GCF for the variables is d.

Part 2: Find GCF of bases (Method #1)

The equation gives 108 and 216 as coefficients. To check for a GCF, use prime factorization trees to find common factors in between the values.

Key: If a number is in bold, it is marked this way because it cannot be divided further AND is a prime number!

Prime Factorization of 108

108 ⇒ 54 & 2

54 ⇒ 27 & 2

27 ⇒ 9 & 3

9 ⇒ 3 & 3

Therefore, the prime factorization of 108 is 2 * 2 * 3 * 3 * 3, or simplified as 2² * 3³.

Prime Factorization of 216

216 ⇒ 108 & 2

108 ⇒ 54 & 2

54 ⇒ 27 & 2

27 ⇒ 9 & 3

9 ⇒ 3 & 3

Therefore, the prime factorization of 216 is 2 * 2 * 2 * 3 * 3 * 3, or simplified as 2³ * 3³.

After completing the prime factorization trees, check for the common factors in between the two values.

The prime factorization of 216 is 2³ * 3³ and the prime factorization of 108 is 2² * 3³. Follow the same rules for GCFs of variables listed above and declare that the common factor is the factor of 108.

Therefore, the greatest common factor (combining both the coefficient and the variable) is [tex]\boxed{108d}[/tex].

Part 3: Find GCF of bases (Method #2)

This is the quicker method of the two. Simply divide the two coefficients and see if the result is 2. If so, the lesser number is immediately the coefficient.

[tex]\frac{216}{108}=2[/tex]

Therefore, the coefficient of the GCF will be 108.

Then, follow the process described for variables to determine that the GCF of the variables is d.

Therefore, the GCF is [tex]\boxed{108d}[/tex].