Question

What is the least common multiple of #{8, 12, 16, 3}?

Answer 1

48

Explanation:

Let's first do prime factorizations:

`8=2^3`

`12=2^2xx3`

`16=2^4`

`3=3`

Now we look for the largest grouping of each prime in the factorizations.

For the number 2, the largest grouping is in 16:

`LCM=2^4xx...`

The other prime factor is 3. We need one of those (since both 12 and 3 only have one):

`LCM=2^4xx3=48`