Question

a parts distributors customers always order spark plugs in groups of 4, 6, or 8. which is the smallest quantity the supplier has that could accommodate every order?

Answer 1

24 spark plugs.

Explanation:

We have been given that a parts distributors customers always order spark plugs in groups of 4, 6, or 8.

To find the smallest quantity that will accommodate every order we will find the LCM of 4, 6 and 8.

Multiples of 4 are: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32,..

Multiples of 6 are: 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36,..

Multiples of 8 are: 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48,..

We can see that LCM of 4, 6 and 8 is 24, therefore, the smallest quantity that could accommodate every order is 24 spark plugs.