How to find the Least Common Multiple of 12 and 16?
On this page below, we'll use the Prime Factorisation, and the List of Multiples method to find out the LCM of 12 and 16.
Follow the steps below, and let's calculate the LCM of 12 and 16.
Method 1 - Prime factorization
Step 1: Create a list of all the prime factors of the numbers 12 and 16:
Prime factors of 12
The prime factors of 12 are 2, 2 and 3. Prime factorization of 12 in exponential form is:
12 = 22x31
Prime factors of 16
The prime factors of 16 are 2, 2, 2 and 2. Prime factorization of 16 in exponential form is:
16 = 24
Step 2: Identify the highest power of each prime number from the above boxes:
24, 31
Step 3: Multiply these values together:
24x31=48
Step 4: The result:
As seen on the calculation above, we have now obtained the LCM of 12 and 16.
The Least Common Multiple of 12 and 16 is 48.
Method 2 - List of Multiples
Find and list multiples of each number until the first common multiple is found. This is the lowest common multiple.
Multiples of 12:
12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84
Multiples of 16:
16, 32, 48, 64, 80, 96
Therefore,
LCM(12, 16) = 48