Let's begin by listing out the information given to us:
Gary found: 72 shells, 40 coins
To calculate for the greatest number of friends Gary can give shells and coins to, we will solve for the highrdt vommon factor (HCF)
[tex]\begin{gathered} 72\Rightarrow2\cdot2\cdot2\cdot2\cdot3\cdot3 \\ 40\Rightarrow2\cdot2\cdot2\cdot5 \\ \therefore HCF=2\cdot2\cdot2=8 \end{gathered}[/tex]The greatest number of friends Gary can give shells and coins to is 8
Each of the 8 friends receive:
[tex]\begin{gathered} shells\colon\frac{72}{8}=9 \\ coins\colon\frac{40}{8}=5 \\ \therefore\text{They each receive 9 shells and 5 coins} \end{gathered}[/tex]The greatest number of friends Gary can give shells and coins to is 8 friends. Each friend will receive 9 shells and 5 coins
