You could A: list out multiples of the denominators until you find one that is in each list. Example: 1/2, 1/3, 1/4
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12
3, 6, 9, 12
4, 8, 12
12 is in each list, therefore it is the least common denominator. You could also B: Find the prime factorization, or finding it's factorization in prime numbers. It is achieved like this:
1/2, 1/3, 1/4
2: 2
3: 3
4: 2*2
You then multiply all of the numbers together, like so:
2*3*2*2= 24
HOWEVER: If there are two numbers in the same column
(2
3
2)
like the twos, you take one of them out, leaving you with 2*3*2 which equals 12. Either of these ways work, and they get the same answer every time.
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3x2 has x, x2 , and 3 as factors. 2x-5 does not have any of those as factors. So the greatest common factor is 1. If you were adding rational expressions with those two expressions in the denominator, you would need to multiply them together to find the least common denominator.
One way is to simply multiply the denominators together. That won't give you the LEAST common denominator, but it will give you A common denominator.You can also use one of the several methods explained in the Wikipedia article on "Least common multiple". For example, you can split each number up into prime factors, and multiply all the unique prime factors together. If a prime factor appears more than once in some of the numbers, use the highest power.
The least common denominator is 60.
a least common (LCD) denominator is a least common multiple (LCM); only it's a fraction and it's LCM is in the denominator's place.
The least common denominator for 9 and 10 is 90.