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When should you stop the Euclidean algorithm during the trace?

You should stop the Euclidean algorithm when the second argument of the pair becomes zero. At this point, the first argument is the greatest common divisor.

Conditions

  • The algorithm is tracing the steps of the Euclidean algorithm.
  • The pair is represented as (a,b)(a,b).
  • The operation is gcd⁡(a,b)=gcd⁡(b,a mod b)\gcd(a,b)=\gcd(b,a\bmod b).

Reasoning, step by step

  1. Perform the Euclidean step to replace (a,b)(a,b) with (b,a mod b)(b, a\bmod b).
  2. Check if the new second argument is zero.
  3. If the second argument is zero, stop the algorithm.
  4. Return the first argument as the greatest common divisor.

Example

Stop at the zero second argument rather than attempting a remainder with a zero divisor.

Common misconceptions

  • Attempting to calculate the remainder when the divisor is zero.
  • Stopping when the first argument becomes zero instead of the second.

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