What is the LCM of 11 and 12 and how do you solve it?

Answer 1

11 is prime, so it won't have any factors in common with 12. In this case multiply them and get 132, the LCM.

There are many methods of finding the LCM of two numbers.

Method 1:

Method of prime factorization is one of the methods.

Prime factorization of 11 = 11(11 is prime)

Prime factorization of 12 = 2x2x3

Is there anything common in the factorization of both numbers? Nothing, so in this case we multiply 11 and 12 to get our LCM: 11 x 12 =132.

Method 2:

There is a relation between LCM and GCF of two numbers a and b:

LCM(a,b) x GCF(a,b) = Product of a and b

Since 11 and 12 are consecutive numbers then their GCF is 1 and product of 11 and 12 is 132.

Putting the values in the relation we get:

LCM(11,12) x 1 = 132

LCM(11,12) = 132/1 = 132

Not every time we need to go through these methods, here is a trick to remember: LCM of two consecutive numbers is equal to their product.

11 and 12 are consecutive numbers so their LCM is 11 x 12 = 132.