Question

Smallest common denominator

Answer 1

How do you figure out for example the smallest common denominator between 256 16 and 5.... i remember something about prime factoring ... but im nt too sure anymore.

Answer 2

256 * 5 = 1280 / 16 = 80

So, the smallest common denominator is 1280

Answer 3

256 * 1 = 256 -- Not divisible by 5
256 * 2 = 512 -- Not divisible by 5
256 * 3 = 768 -- Not divisible by 5
256 * 4 = 1024 -- Not divisible by 5
256 * 5 = 1280 -- Divisible by 5 -- 1280 / 16 = 80 -- Divisible by 16
Answer = 1280

Answer 4

that's what i was looking for:

To find the least common denominator using this method, factor each of the denominators into primes. Then for each different prime number in all of the factorizations, do the following...

1.

Count the number of times each prime number appears in each of the factorizations.
2.

For each prime number, take the largest of these counts.
3.

Write down that prime number as many times as you counted for it in step #2.
4.

The least common denominator is the product of all the prime numbers written down.