Maximum GCD of two numbers possible by adding same value to them

Last Updated : 11 Aug, 2021

Given two numbers A and B, the task is to find the maximum Greatest Common Divisors(GCD) that can be obtained by adding a number X to both A and B.

Examples

Input: A = 1, B = 5
Output: 4
Explanation: Adding X = 15, the obtained numbers are A = 16 and B = 20. Therefore, GCD of A, B is 4.

Input: A = 2, B = 23
Output: 21

Approach: This problem can be solved in a very optimized manner using the properties of Euclidean GCD algorithm. Follow the steps below to solve the problem:

If a > b: GCD(a, b)= GCD(a – b, b). Therefore, GCD(a, b) = GCD(a – b, b).
On adding x to A, B, gcd(a + x, b + x) = gcd(a – b, b + x). It can be seen that (a – b) remains constant.
It can be safely said that the GCD of these numbers will never exceed (a – b). Since (b + x) can be made a multiple of (a – b) by adding a possible value of x.
Therefore, it can be concluded that GCD remains (a – b).

Below is the implementation of the above approach.

C++

// C++ implementation of above approach.
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
 
// Function to calculate maximum
// gcd of two numbers possible by
// adding same value to both a and b
void maxGcd(int a, int b)
{
    cout << abs(a - b);
}
 
// Driver Code
int main()
{
    // Given Input
    int a = 2231;
    int b = 343;
 
    maxGcd(a, b);
 
    return 0;
}

Java

// Java implementation of above approach.
import java.io.*;
 
class GFG 
{
 
  // Function to calculate maximum
  // gcd of two numbers possible by
  // adding same value to both a and b
  static void maxGcd(int a, int b)
  {
    System.out.println(Math.abs(a - b));
  }
 
  // Driver Code
  public static void main (String[] args)
  {
 
    // Given Input
    int a = 2231;
    int b = 343;
 
    maxGcd(a, b);
 
  }
}
 
// This code is contributed by Potta Lokesh

Python3

# Python3 program for the above approach
 
# Function to calculate maximum
# gcd of two numbers possible by
# adding same value to both a and b
def maxGcd(a, b):
     
    print(abs(a - b))
 
# Driver code
 
# Given Input
a = 2231
b = 343
 
maxGcd(a, b)
 
# This code is contributed by Parth Manchanda

C#

// C# program for the above approach
using System;
 
class GFG{
 
 // Function to calculate maximum
  // gcd of two numbers possible by
  // adding same value to both a and b
  static void maxGcd(int a, int b)
  {
    Console.Write(Math.Abs(a - b));
  }
 
// Driver Code
static public void Main ()
{
     
     // Given Input
    int a = 2231;
    int b = 343;
 
    maxGcd(a, b);
}
}
 
// This code is contributed by code_hunt.

Javascript

<script>
       // JavaScript Program for the above approach
 
       // Function to calculate maximum
       // gcd of two numbers possible by
       // adding same value to both a and b
       function maxGcd(a, b) {
           document.write(Math.abs(a - b));
       }
 
       // Driver Code
 
       // Given Input
       let a = 2231;
       let b = 343;
 
       maxGcd(a, b);
 
   // This code is contributed by Potta Lokesh
   </script>