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17 Least Common Multiple

The least common multiple (LCM) of two or more numbers is the smallest positive number that is a multiple of each number. To find the LCM, you list the multiples of each number and the LCM is the first number that is common to both lists. For example, the LCM of 3 and 5 is 15, as 15 is the first number that is a multiple of both 3 and 5.

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76 views3 pages

17 Least Common Multiple

The least common multiple (LCM) of two or more numbers is the smallest positive number that is a multiple of each number. To find the LCM, you list the multiples of each number and the LCM is the first number that is common to both lists. For example, the LCM of 3 and 5 is 15, as 15 is the first number that is a multiple of both 3 and 5.

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Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Least Common Multiple

The smallest positive number that is a multiple of two or more numbers.

Let's start with an Example ...


Least Common Multiple of 3 and 5:
List the Multiples of each number,
The multiples of 3 are 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, ... etc
The multiples of 5 are 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, ... etc
Find the first Common (same) value:

The Least Common Multiple of 3 and 5 is 15


( 15 is a common multiple of 3 and 5, and is the smallest, or least, common multiple )

So ... what is a "Multiple" ?


We get a multiple of a number when we multiply it by another number. Such as
multiplying by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc, but not zero. Just like the multiplication table.
Here are some examples:
The multiples of 4 are: 4,8,12,16,20,24,28,32,36,40,44,...
The multiples of 5 are: 5,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,...

What is a "Common Multiple" ?


Say we have listed the first few multiples of 4 and 5: the common multiples are those that
are found in both lists:
The multiples of 4 are: 4,8,12,16,20,24,28,32,36,40,44,...
The multiples of 5 are: 5,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,...

Notice that 20 and 40 appear in both lists?


So, the common multiples of 4 and 5 are: 20, 40, (and 60, 80, etc ..., too)

What is the "Least Common Multiple" ?


It is simply the smallest of the common multiples.
In our previous example, the smallest of the common multiples is 20 ...
... so the Least Common Multiple of 4 and 5 is 20.

Finding the Least Common Multiple


List the multiples of the numbers until we get our first match.

Example: Find the least common multiple of 4 and 10:


The multiples of 4 are: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, ...
and the multiples of 10 are: 10, 20, ...
Aha! there is a match at 20. It looks like this:

So the least common multiple of 4 and 10 is 20

Example: Find the least common multiple of 6 and 15:


The multiples of 6 are: 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, ...
and the multiples of 15 are: 15, 30, ...
There is a match at 30
So the least common multiple of 6 and 15 is 30

More than 2 Numbers


We can also find the least common multiple of three (or more) numbers.

Example: Find the least common multiple of 4, 6, and 8


Multiples of 4 are: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, ...
Multiples of 6 are: 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, ...
Multiples of 8 are: 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, ....
So 24 is the least common multiple.

Hint: You can have smaller lists for the bigger numbers.

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