How Do You Find The Least Common Multiple (LCM) Of Two Numbers?
A common task in math is to find the least common multiple (LCM) of two numbers. If we are doing this for the sake of adding or subtracting fractions with unlike denominators (discussed in another article), then this number will be used as the lowest common denominator (LCD) for the two fractions. Note that there are many clever methods for computing the LCM of two numbers. Most of these are not at all practical since they take a very long time, and are error prone. They are typically only studied once, when the topic is first being taught, and then never again. In later math and on standardized exams, we are never given large and obscure numbers to work with. That is never the point. This article shows you the steps for quickly finding the LCM of two reasonable numbers, possibly even in your head. Let’s find the LCM of 4 and 6. The first thing to understand is that the LCM is not the same thing as the greatest common factor (GCF). Students frequently get this mixed up. The GCF is the
