What is the least common multiple of 2 and 3?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking for the least common multiple (LCM) of the numbers 2 and 3. The LCM is the smallest positive integer that is divisible by both numbers. To find it, we can list the multiples of each number and identify the smallest one that they have in common.
Answer
6
Answer for screen readers
The final answer is 6
Steps to Solve
- List multiples of each number
List the multiples of 2 and 3 to find the common smallest multiple.
Multiples of 2: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, ... Multiples of 3: 3, 6, 9, 12, ...
- Identify the smallest common multiple
The smallest number that appears in both lists is the least common multiple (LCM) of 2 and 3.
Multiples of 2: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, ... Multiples of 3: 3, 6, 9, 12, ...
The smallest common multiple is 6.
The final answer is 6
More Information
The LCM of two or more numbers is useful when adding or subtracting fractions with different denominators, as it provides the smallest common denominator.
Tips
A common mistake is to miss the smallest number when listing multiples, so always double-check your lists.
