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jmc

number theory senior

Problem

Given that is a multiple of , what is the greatest common divisor of and ?
Solution
In , all terms will have a multiple of except for the constant term, which is the multiple of the four constants , and .

Recall (from the Euclidean algorithm) that the greatest common divisor of and is the same as the greatest common divisor of and where and are any integers. Therefore, finding the greatest common divisor of and is the same as finding the greatest common divisor of and the constant term of . Therefore, we want to find Since is a multiple of , the greatest common divisor of and is .
Final answer
216