What is the LCM of 16 and 36?
The least number which is exactly divisible by 16 and 36 is the LCM of 16 and 36. It is the smallest of all the common multiples of given numbers.
Answer: LCM of 16 and 36 is 144
Lets see how to find the LCM of 16 and 36
The smallest number in which the given numbers divide exactly is called the least common multiple, or in short LCM. We can calculate the LCM in many ways. The commonly used methods are listed below namely, the listing method, common division method.
Methods to Find the LCM of 16 and 36
Let us use the following methods to find the LCM of 16 and 36
Listing Method To Calculate LCM of 16 and 36
In this method,
- we list the first few multiples of 16 and 36
- identify the common multiples.
- The smallest of all the common multiples is the LCM of 16 and 36
Common Division Method To Calculate LCM of 16 and 36
In this division method, we follow a 2-step process,
- we divide the numbers simultaneously with prime numbers
- stop it when we don't have a prime number to divide the given numbers.
The LCM is the product of all such common prime divisors.
Irrespective of the method, the solution to our question LCM(16,36) remains the same as 144.