You'll most often encounter factors in the following way: You'll receive a number (from your teacher, a homework problem, a ...
For example, the common factors of 40 and 16 are 2, 4 and 8. The HCF of 40 and 16 is therefore 8. This is the largest number that 'goes into' both numbers. Find the HCF of 12 and 20. The factors ...