Question

What is the least common multiple of 12, 16, 7, 2?

Answer 1

`336`

Explanation:

The prime factorisations of these numbers are:

`12 = 2 xx 2 xx 3`

`16 = 2 xx 2 xx 2 xx 2`

`7 = 7`

`2 = 2`

So the smallest number which includes all of these prime factors with these multiplicities is:

`2 xx 2 xx 2 xx 2 xx 3 xx 7 = 336`

So this is the smallest number divisible by all of `12, 16, 7, 2`.