Question

Yadira's mom is buying hot dogs and hot dog buns for the family barbecue. Hot dogs come in packs of 121212 and hot dog buns come in packs of 999. The store does not sell parts of a pack and Yadira's mom wants the same number of hot dogs as hot dog buns. What is the smallest total number of hot dogs that Yadira's mom can purchase?

Answer 1

The Least Common Measure for 12 and 9 is:

LCM(12, 9) = 36

The smallest total number of hot dogs is 36.

Answer 2

Yadira's mom should buy 36 hot dogs and 36 buns.

Explanation:

Hot dogs come in packs of 12.

Hot dog buns come in packs of 9.

Yadira's mom wants the same number of hot dogs as hot dog buns.

So, to get the smallest total number of hot dogs we will find the least common multiple to 12 and 9.

12 = 2 x 2 x 3

9 = 3 x 3

So, LCM is = 2 x 2 x 3 x 3 = 36

Hence, Yadira's mom should buy 36 hot dogs (36/12=3 packs) and 36 buns (36/9=4 packs).