Solution: The LCM of 4 and 32 is 32
Methods
How to find the LCM of 4 and 32 using Prime Factorization
One way to find the LCM of 4 and 32 is to start by comparing the prime factorization of each number. To find the prime factorization, you can follow the instructions for each number here:
What are the Factors of 4?
What are the Factors of 32?
Here is the prime factorization of 4:
2
2
2^2
2 2
And this is the prime factorization of 32:
2
5
2^5
2 5
When you compare the prime factorization of these two numbers, you want to look for the highest power that each prime factor is raised to. In this case, there are these prime factors to consider: 2
2
5
=
32
2^5 = 32
2 5 = 32
Through this we see that the LCM of 4 and 32 is 32.
How to Find the LCM of 4 and 32 by Listing Common Multiples
The first step to this method of finding the Least Common Multiple of 4 and 32 is to begin to list a few multiples for each number. If you need a refresher on how to find the multiples of these numbers, you can see the walkthroughs in the links below for each number.
Let’s take a look at the multiples for each of these numbers, 4 and 32:
What are the Multiples of 4?
What are the Multiples of 32?
Let’s take a look at the first 10 multiples for each of these numbers, 4 and 32:
First 10 Multiples of 4: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40
First 10 Multiples of 32: 32, 64, 96, 128, 160, 192, 224, 256, 288, 320
You can continue to list out the multiples of these numbers as long as needed to find a match. Once you do find a match, or several matches, the smallest of these matches would be the Least Common Multiple. For instance, the first matching multiple(s) of 4 and 32 are 32, 64, 96. Because 32 is the smallest, it is the least common multiple.
The LCM of 4 and 32 is 32.
Find the LCM of Other Number Pairs
Want more practice? Try some of these other LCM problems:
What is the LCM of 129 and 65?
What is the LCM of 1 and 47?
What is the LCM of 25 and 149?
What is the LCM of 100 and 125?
What is the LCM of 71 and 86?