The GCD of given numbers is 17.
Step 1 :
Divide $ 187 $ by $ 34 $ and get the remainder
The remainder is positive ($ 17 > 0 $), so we will continue with division.
Step 2 :
Divide $ 34 $ by $ \color{blue}{ 17 } $ and get the remainder
The remainder is zero => GCD is the last divisor $ \color{blue}{ \boxed { 17 }} $.
We can summarize an algorithm into a following table.
187 | : | 34 | = | 5 | remainder ( 17 ) | ||
34 | : | 17 | = | 2 | remainder ( 0 ) | ||
GCD = 17 |
This solution can be visualized using a Venn diagram.
The GCD equals the product of the numbers at the intersection.