what is the lcm of 9 and 15
What is the LCM of 9 and 15?
Answer: To find the Least Common Multiple (LCM) of 9 and 15, follow these steps:
1. Prime Factorizations:
First, find the prime factorizations of the numbers 9 and 15.
- Prime factorization of 9:
9 = 3^2
- Prime factorization of 15:
15 = 3 \times 5
2. Determine the LCM:
To determine the LCM, take the highest power of each prime number that appears in the factorizations.
- For the prime number 3, the highest power is (3^2).
- For the prime number 5, the highest power is (5^1).
Thus, the LCM is:
\text{LCM} = 3^2 \times 5^1
3. Calculate the LCM:
Now, calculate the LCM by multiplying these values:
3^2 = 9
9 \times 5 = 45
Therefore, the LCM of 9 and 15 is (\boxed{45}).
This means the smallest number that both 9 and 15 can divide into without leaving a remainder is 45.
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