The Lowest Common Multiple Quiz for students
Teaching concept of LCM to kids
The lowest common multiple (LCM) of two or more numbers is the smallest number that is a multiple of all of those numbers.
To find the LCM of two numbers, start by listing out the multiples of each number. For example, the multiples of 4 are 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, and so on. The multiples of 6 are 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, and so on.
Now, find the smallest number that is a multiple of both 4 and 6. In this case, the smallest number is 12, because it is the first number that appears in both lists. 12 is the LCM of 4 and 6.
To find the LCM of three or more numbers, you can use the same process. Just make a list of the multiples of each number and find the smallest number that is a multiple of all of them.
For example, to find the LCM of 4, 6, and 8, you can list the multiples of each number:
Multiples of 4: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, and so on.
Multiples of 6: 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, and so on.
Multiples of 8: 8, 16, 24, 32, and so on.
The smallest number that is a multiple of all three numbers is 24, because it is the first number that appears in all three lists. 24 is the LCM of 4, 6, and 8.
LCM is often used in math problems to find a common denominator for fractions. For example, if you wanted to add the fractions 1/4 and 1/6, you could find the LCM of 4 and 6, which is 12. Then, you could rewrite both fractions with a denominator of 12: 1/4 becomes 3/12 and 1/6 becomes 2/12. Now you can add the fractions easily: 3/12 + 2/12 = 5/12.
LCM is also used in many real-world situations. For example, if you wanted to schedule a meeting with two people and one person is only available every other week and the other person is only available every third week, you could find the LCM of 2 and 3 to find the smallest time period in which both people are available. In this case, the LCM of 2 and 3 is 6, so you could schedule the meeting every sixth week.
I hope this helps you understand what the lowest common multiple is and how it is used!