Gary found 72 shells and 40 coins at the beach. He wants to give them to some of his friends. Each friend will receive the same number of shells and the same number of coins. What is the greatest number of friends Gary can give shells and coins to? How many shells will each friend receive? How many coins?

8 friends, 9 shells and 5 coins.

Step-by-step explanation:

For this question you will need to know how to factorise a number in prime numbers.

72/2 = > 36/2 = > 18/2 = > 9/3 = > 3

So 72 is 2*2*2*3*3 = 72

Then 40 = 2*2*2*5

Their common factors are 2*2*2 = 8

So there's only 8 friends at most to have whole numbers.

To see how many shells you only need to do 72/8 = 9

For the coins, 40/8 = 5