MATH

HCF & LCM

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 HCF and LCM
Highest Common Factor

The Highest Common Factor (HCF) of two or more given

numbers is the highest (or greatest) of their common
factors. It is also known as Greatest Common Divisor
(GCD).

The highest common factor of two or more numbers is

the greatest number, which divides each of those
numbers an exact number of times. e.g. HCF of 24 and
36 is 12.
How to find the HCF of two or more numbers?
a) Express the two numbers as the product of prime
numbers separately.
b) Take the product of prime numbers common to
both numbers.
Solved Example:

Ex 1: What is the HCF of 12, 54 and 36?

Sol: 12 = 2 × 2 × 3, 54 = 2 × 3 × 3 × 3, 36 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3.
The greatest common factor of 12, 54 and 36 is 2 ×
3. Thus, HCF of 12, 54, 36 is 6

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Lowest Common Multiple

The Lowest Common Multiple (LCM) of two or more

given numbers is the lowest (or smallest or least) of their
common multiples.

The least common multiple (LCM) of two or more

numbers is the smallest of the numbers, which is exactly
divisible by each of them.
e.g. Consider two numbers 12 and 15
Multiples of 12 are: 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96, 108, 120,
132, ....
Multiples of 15 are: 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, 105, 120, 135,
......
The common multiples of both 12 and 15 are 60, 120,
180,...
The least common multiple is 60.
How to find the LCM of two or more numbers?
The LCM of two numbers can be found by the product of
the factors of the two numbers after eliminating
repetition of the common factors.
In the above Ex., the common factor for 12 and 15 are 3.
Therefore, the LCM will be 3 × 4 × 5 = 60.
Alternatively, LCM is the product of all prime factors of
the given numbers, the common factors among them

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being in their highest degree. e.g., The LCM of 5x2y3z5
and 3xy2z7 will be 5 × 3× x2y3z7 = 15x2y3z7, where x, y and
z are the prime factors.
Ex 2: Find the LCM of 16 and 24

Sol: We know that common multiples of 16 and 24 are

48, 96 144 etc. The lowest of these is 48. Let us
see another method to find LCM of two numbers.

The prime factorizations of 16 and 24 are: 16 = 2 ×

2 × 2 × 2; 24 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3

In these prime factorizations, the maximum

number of times the prime factor 2 occurs is four;
this happens for 16. Similarly, the maximum
number of times the factor 3 occurs is one; this
happens for 24. The LCM of the two numbers is the
product of the prime factors counted the maximum
number of times they occur in any of the numbers.
Thus, in this case LCM = 2 × 2 × 2 x 2 × 3 = 48.

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Ex 3: Find the LCM of 48 and 180.

Sol: The prime factorizations of 48 and 180 are: 48 = 2

× 2 × 2 x 2 × 3; 180 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 5. In these
prime factorizations the maximum number of
times the prime factor 2 occurs is four; this
happens for 48. Similarly, the maximum number of
times the prime factor 3 occurs is two; this
happens for 180. The prime factor 5 occurs only
once in 180. Thus, LCM = (2 × 2 x 2 × 2) × (3 × 3) × 5
= 720

Ex 4: Find the LCM of 20, 24 and 15.

Sol: The prime factorizations of 20, 24 and 15 are;

20 = 2 × 2 × 5

24 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3

15 = 3 × 5

The prime factor 2 appears maximum three times

in the prime factorization of 24, the prime factor 3
occurs only one time in the prime factorization of

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 24 and 15, The prime factor 5 appears one time in
the prime factorizations of 20 and 15, we take it
only once. Therefore, required LCM = (2 × 2 × 2) × 3
× 5 = 120.

LCM and HCF of Fractions

LCM of numerators
LCM of fractions = ;
HCF of denominato rs

3 1 3 (LCM of numerators )
e.g. LCM of and =
4 2 2 (HCF of denominato rs)

HCF of numerators
HCF of fractions =
LCM of denominato rs

3 1 1(HCF of numerators )
e.g. HCF of and =
4 2 4(LCM of denominato rs)

Note that the product of the two fractions is always

equal to the product of LCM and HCF of the two
fractions.

3 1 3
The product of the two fractions =  = .
4 2 8

3 1 3
The product of the LCM and HCF =  = .
2 4 8

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Important Points in LCM and HCF
 In case of HCF, if some remainders are given, then
first those remainders are subtracted from the
numbers given and then their HCF is calculated.
 In case of LCM, if a single remainder is given, then
firstly the LCM is calculated and then that single
reminder is added in that.
 In case of LCM, if for different numbers different
remainders are given, then the difference between
the number and its respective remainder will be
equal. In that case, firstly the LCM is calculated,
then that common difference between the number
and its respective remainder is subtracted from
that.
 Sometimes in case of HCF questions, the same
remainder is required is given and the remainder is
not given.
 Whenever the question talks about the greatest or
maximum, then in most of the cases it will be a
question of HCF. Secondly whenever the question
is related to classification or distribution into
groups then in all the cases it is HCF only.

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 In short HCF is to be found we have to find the
greatest common piece between two or more
values.

 Whenever the question talks about the smallest or

minimum, then in most of the cases it will be a
question of LCM. Secondly whenever the word
‘together’ or ‘simultaneous’ in used in the question
then in all the cases it is LCM.
In short LCM is to be found when simultaneous
occurrence of some event happens like a friend
comes to your house every third day and another
comes to your house every 4th day so the will be
together on 12 th day or a bell toll after every 3rd
sec and another toll after every 4th sec so they will
toll together after 12 sec (after starting together)

Ex 5: Find the LCM of 2/7, 3/14 & 4/21.

LCM of numerators
Sol: LCM of fractions = ;
HCF of denominato rs

LCM of 2,3,4 12
LCM 2/7, 3/14 & 4/21= ;= ;
HCF of 7,14,21 7

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Ex6. Find the HCF of 2/3, 4/9 & 6/11.

HCF of numerators
Sol: HCF of fractions =
LCM of denominato rs

HCF of (2,4,6) 2
HCF of 2/3, 4/9 & 6/11 = =
LCM of (3,9,11) 99

Ex 7: Find the least number which when divided by 8, 12

& 16 leaves in each case a remainder 3.

Sol: THE LEAST NUMBER WHICH IS EXACTLY

DIVISIBLE BY 8, 12 AND 16 IS LCM i.e 48. Hence in
order to have 3 as remainder, required number
should be 3 more than the LCM.

So 48 + 3 = 51 is the answer.

Ex 8: Find the least number, which when increased by 3

is exactly divisible by 8, 12 & 16 case a remainder
3.

Sol: The least number which is exactly divisible by 8, 12

and 16 is lcm i.e. 48. Hence in order to reach 48 the
number should be increased by 3. Hence it should
be 3 less than LCM.

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 So 48 – 3 = 45 is the answer.

Ex 9: After how much time will five bells toll together if

they start together and toll at intervals of 2,3,4,5
and 6 sec respectively?

Sol: Here simultaneous occurrence of event is there

hence LCM is to be found. So LCM of 2,3,4,5 and 6
i.e. 60 is the answer

Ex10: Find the side of the largest square slabs which can
be paved on the floor of a room 8 long and 6
meters broad.

Sol: Here biggest common piece is to be found. So HCF

of 8 and 6 i.e. 2 is the answer.

Ex 11: Find the greatest number which when divides 259

and 465 leaves remainders 4 and 6 respectively.
Sol: Here the numbers 259 and 465 leave the
remainders 4 and 6 respectively. So the required
number will be obtained by finding the H.C.F. of
259 – 4 = 255 and 465 – 6 = 459. The HCF of 255
and 459 is 51 which is the number.

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Ex 12: Find the least number which when divided by 8,
12, 20 and 36 leaves remainders 6, 10, 18 and 34
respectively.
Sol: Here the numbers are 8, 12, 20 and 36 and the
respective remainders are 6, 10, 18 and 34. The
difference between numbers and the respective
remainders is equal to 2. So, first of all, find the
LCM of 8, 12, 20 and 36 which is 360. The required
number is 360 – 2 = 358.
Ex 13: Find the greatest number, which when 41, 71 and
91 leave the same remainder in each case.
Sol: Take the difference between all the three pairs of
numbers and their HCF will be the answer
i.e. 91 – 41 = 50, 71 – 41 = 30, 91 – 71 = 20. Now
the HCF of 50, 30 and 20 is 10.
Sometimes in such questions, the common
remainder can also be asked.
You can divide any of the numbers given by HCF
(91  10) and find the remainder to be equal to 1.

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Ex 14: How often will five bells toll together in one hour if
they start together and toll at intervals of 5, 6, 8, 12,
20 seconds, respectively?
Sol: The time after which the bells will ring together is
the L.C.M. of 5, 6, 8, 12 and 20 seconds, i.e. 120
seconds. The number of times they will toll
together in one hour = (3600  120) = 30. Thus they
will toll together 30 times in an hour. Sometimes
the question is how many times they toll together
in the first hour, in that case after finding the
answer like above, you need to add 1 for a start
together as well, i.e. in the first hour it is 1 more
than the usual number of times.
Ex 15: Find the greatest number of four digits which
when divided by 10, 15, 21 and 28 leaves 4, 9, 15
and 22 as remainders, respectively?
Sol: In case of LCM, if for different numbers different
remainders are given, then the difference between
the number and its respective remainder will be
equal. In that case, firstly the LCM is calculated,
LCM of 10, 15, 21, and 28 = 420. Now the greatest
four-digit number, i.e. 9999, when divided by 420
gives remainder 339 therefore, 9999 – 339 = 9660
is the greatest four-digit number divisible by 10, 15,

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21 and 28. After that, the common difference
between the number and its respective remainder
is subtracted from that, i.e. 9660 – 6 = 9654. Hence
9654 will be the answer to this question.

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