Q. What is the least common multiple of 12 and 9 ?lcm(12,9)=
Prime Factorization of 12: To find the least common multiple (LCM) of 12 and 9, we first need to find the prime factorization of each number.The prime factorization of 12 is 22×31.The prime factorization of 9 is 32.
Prime Factorization of 9: Next, we take the highest powers of all the prime factors that appear in the factorization of both numbers to find the LCM.For the prime factor 2, the highest power is 22 (which appears in the factorization of 12).For the prime factor 3, the highest power is 32 (which appears in the factorization of 9).
Finding the Highest Powers: Now, we multiply these highest powers of the prime factors to get the LCM.LCM(12, 9) = 22×32LCM(12, 9) = 4×9LCM(12, 9) = 36