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  1. Because you are asked for the GCF of «math style=¨font-family:`Times New Roman`¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mn»60«/mn»«mi»a«/mi»«msup»«mi»b«/mi»«mn»2«/mn»«/msup»«/math» and «math style=¨font-family:`Times New Roman`¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mo»-«/mo»«mn»15«/mn»«msup»«mi»b«/mi»«mn»3«/mn»«/msup»«/math», «math style=¨font-family:`Times New Roman`¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mn»15«/mn»«msup»«mi»b«/mi»«mn»3«/mn»«/msup»«/math», rather than «math style=¨font-family:`Times New Roman`¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mo»-«/mo»«mn»15«/mn»«msup»«mi»b«/mi»«mn»3«/mn»«/msup»«/math» is the GCF.

    However, it is common convention that if ALL of the terms to be factored are negative, the 'GCF' may be negative in order to make all resulting terms positive. This convention makes the factored result appear 'cleaner'.
    Determine the GCF of «math style=¨font-family:`Times New Roman`¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mn»60«/mn»«mi»a«/mi»«msup»«mi»b«/mi»«mn»2«/mn»«/msup»«/math» and «math style=¨font-family:`Times New Roman`¨ xmlns=¨http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML¨»«mo»-«/mo»«mn»15«/mn»«msup»«mi»b«/mi»«mn»3«/mn»«/msup»«/math» using prime factorization.