What is LCM

LCM stands for lowest common multiple. LCM is a number which can be divisible by a set of numbers. For example, 12 is the LCM of 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12. This means 12 can be divided exactly by 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12 itself.

Least common multiples..

example- LCM of two numbers is divisible by both numbers. For example, the LCM of 6 and 8 is 24. Hence 24 is divisible by both 6 and 8.

LCM is the lowest common multiple of a variety of numbers. For example, the LCM (lowest common multiple) of 3 and 12 is 12.

Lowest common multiple is the smallest whole number that is divisible by a number without leaving a remainder

LCM stands for Lowest Common Multiple. It’s the smallest positive integer that is divisible by two or more given numbers without leaving a remainder. Calculating the LCM is often useful in adding or subtracting fractions with different denominators.

LCM is the short form for “Least Common Multiple.” The least common multiple is defined as the smallest multiple that two or more numbers have in common. For example: Take two integers, 2 and 3. Multiples of 2: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20.

LCM stands for "Least Common Multiple." It is the smallest positive integer that is a multiple of two or more numbers.

In other words, it is the smallest number that all the given numbers can divide into evenly.

The LCM is often used in various mathematical operations, such as adding or subtracting fractions with different denominators.

Usually fractions look scary and people often avoid them but using LCM you can make it simple and hence solve it easily.

Lowest common multiple shared within a set of numbers for example, the lowest common multiple of 6 and 3 is 6. This is because 6 is within both the 3 and 6 times tables.

LCM is the lowest common denominator.

This is when you have 2 numbers and you need to find the lowest number that is a multiple of both of those numbers.

For example, with the numbers 35 and 42, the lowest common denominator is 7. That is because this is the lowest number that BOTH 35 and 42 can be divided by to achieve a whole number.

You may think the LCM is 1, as any number can be divided by 1 to get a whole number, but 1 doesn't count as an LCM.

LCM is the abbreviation for the Least Common multiple, which refers to the smallest number that is dividable by both two numbers or all the numbers for more than two numbers.

Hi Iftikhar, the LCM often stands for the Lowest Common Multiple. If you have two (or more) numbers, we'll call them X and Y , the LCM is the smallest number that is also a multiple of X and a multiple of Y.

LCM is least common multiple .for example LCM of 5 and 15 is 15 . If you observe the common multiples of 5 and 15 , there are 15, 30 , 45 and so on

Least/Lowest Common Multiple. The smallest positive integer that is divisible by both A and B. For example - if it was for 4 and 6, the LCM would be 2.

LCM stands for Lowest Common Multiple.

To explain the words:

Lowest => Smallest

Common => To have something in 'common', the Multiple (see next) will apply to both or all of the numbers in question. The number we are trying to find will be in the times-tables of the numbers we are given.

Multiple => think 'multiplication', so the multiple will normally be a large number, greater than or equal to one of the numbers in question.

In the 2 examples below we will look at finding the LCM using lists of times-tables.

For more comples numbers, or trying to find the LCM of more than 2 numbers, finding the prime factors (a recap on prime factors would be ideal before using this method) would be more efficient.

Example 1:

Find the LCM of 4 and 12.

We want to find the smalllest number in the times-tables of 4 and 12.

There are several methods to find the LCM. If the numbers are small (1 or 2 digits), one option is to write out the times-tables of 4 and 12 and see which one is the first in both numbers:

4 times-tables: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, . . .

12 times-tables: 12, 24, 36, 48, . . . .

Looking at the list of numbers, the first number in both times-tables is 12: 3x4 = 12 and 1x12 = 12.

So the LCM of 4 and 12 is 12.

Example 2:

Find the LCM of 6 and 8:

** A common misconception may be to multiply the given numbers together. While this would give a multiple, and would sometimes be the lowest (such as with numbers 3 and 4, with an LCM of 12), this is not true for most cases, as we will see here.

6 times-tables: 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, . . .

8 times-tables: 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, . . .

From the lists above, we can see that the lowest (smallest) number (multiple) in both lists (therefore in 'common') is 24.

So the LCM of 6 and 8 is 24.

(Note that by multiplying the given numbers, 6 x 8, we get 48, which is NOT the LCM).

For future lessons and more complex examples we would recap prime numbers and then look at finding the LCM using 'prime factor trees'.

The lowest common multiple (LCM) is the lowest multiple shared by two or more numbers.