Hector is dividing students into groups for a nature hike. He wants to divide the boys and girls so that each group has the same number of both boys and girls. There are 21 boys and 56 girls signed up for the hike. Into how many groups can the students be divided? How many boys and how many girls will be in each group?

The students can be divided into 7 groups.

Each group will have 3 boys and 8 girls.

Step-by-step explanation:

There are 21 boys and 56 girls.

To divide them so that each group has the same number of both boys and girls.

We find GCD(21,56).

21 = 3 x 7

56 = 2 x 2 x 2 x 7

GCD (21,56) = 7

So, the students can be divided into 7 groups.

Number of girls in each group =

Number of boys in each group =

So, each group will have 3 boys and 8 girls.

take the logarithm of both sides (the base of the log doesn't matter):

apply the exponent property - this says that :

distribute the log terms on both sides:

group like terms together:

divide through both sides by the coefficient on :

you can do some additional rewriting here using the properties of the logarithm to simplify things if you like: