Wednesday, 22 October 2025

Exercise (1.3).18

Let $g= \gcd (a, b)$ and $d\mid  a$, $d \mid b$. Prove that $d \mid g$.


The premises $d\mid  a$ and $d \mid b$ mean that for some integers $x,y$ we have

$$ a = x d $$

$$ b = y d $$

Substituting

$$ g = \gcd(xd,  yd) $$

That is, for some integers $m,n$

$$ g =mxd $$

$$ g =nyd $$

This gives us $d \mid g$.