Question

What is the least common multiple of 8, 6, and 12?

Answer 1

You can factorize the numbers:

Explanation:

`8=2xx2xx2`
`6=2xx3`
`12=2xx2xx3`

Now we take the highest power of each factor. Note that `8` has three `2`'s, and that there is one `3` in both `6` and `12`.

So the LCM `=2xx2xx2xx3=24`

Check your answer:
`24div8=3`
`24div6=4=2xx2`
`24div12=2`
And these three do not share a common factor.