Answer:
The least common multiple of 12x and 40y is 120xy.
Step-by-step explanation:
First, we need to get the prime factors of each number.
12x: 2 × 2 × 3 × X
40y: 2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × Y
Then, we need to see how many times each factor occurs in each factorization.
2 × 2 × 3 × X: 2 twice, 3 once, X once
2 × 2 × 2 × 5 × Y: 2 three times, 5 once, Y once
Finally, we need to multiply each factor the most number of times it occurs in either factorization.
The most times 2 appeared was 3 times.
3 once.
5 once.
X once.
Y once.
With that information, we do this:
2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 × X × Y = 120xy
The least common multiple of 12x and 40y is 120xy.
