HCF (Highest Common Factor)

The Highest Common Factor (HCF) of two or more numbers is the largest number that divides all of them exactly without leaving a remainder. It helps identify the greatest possible shared factor between the numbers. For example, the HCF of 12 and 18 is 6, because 6 is the largest number that divides both 12 and 18 evenly. Finding the HCF is useful in simplifying fractions, dividing things into equal parts, and understanding the common divisors shared by numbers. It involves factoring the numbers into their prime factors and selecting the highest common factors among them.