What is the smallest whole number greater than 0 that is a common multiple of two or more numbers?

• A. GCF
• B. Front-end estimation
• C. LCM
• D. Clustering Estimation

Answer: (C)

You’re looking for a number that is a multiple of each of the given numbers, and the smallest positive one that fits is called the least common multiple. This means the number can be divided evenly by each of the numbers, and there isn’t any smaller positive number that does the same. For example, with 6 and 8, the multiples they share start at 24 (6×4 and 8×3), so 24 is the least common multiple. You can find it by listing multiples until a common one appears, or by prime factorization: take the highest powers of all primes that appear in the factorizations and multiply them together. The greatest common factor is about the largest number that divides all the given numbers, not a multiple, so it doesn’t answer this question. Estimation methods like front-end or clustering estimation are about approximating totals, not identifying a common multiple. The concept this question asks for is the least common multiple.