LCM by Listing - Arithmetic Step by Step

Find the least common multiple of 4 and 6 by listing multiples of each number until a shared value appears. LCM(4, 6) = 12.

Example

lcm-4-6.math

LCM(4, 6)

step: multiples of 4: 4, 8, 12
step: multiples of 6: 6, 12
step: LCM of 4 and 6 is 12

least-common-multiple The LCM of two numbers is the smallest number both divide into evenly. List multiples of each (4, 8, 12, … and 6, 12, …) and find the first match. You use the LCM when adding fractions with different denominators.