Question

Riley is buying things for a holiday party that she is having. She wants to make a cheese and cracker appetizer; every cracker will have a piece of cheese. If crackers come in sleeves of 24 and cheese slices come in packages of 16, what is the least number of cheese and cracker appetizers can she make, so that every cracker has a piece of cheese and there are no left overs?

Answer 1

To find the least number, we have to find the LCM of 24 and 16.

We have to figure out the Least Common Multiple (LCM) of 24 and 16.

To do this, we follow the steps shown below:

• List each number as a list of prime factors

,

• Take each factor the greatest number of times and multiply them to get the LCM

So,

24 = 2 * 2 * 2 * 3

16 = 2 * 2 * 2 * 2

So we have "2" four times and "3" one time. Thus,

LCM(24, 16) = 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 3 = 48

Thus,

the least number of cheese and cracker appetizers she can mek so that every cracker has a piece of cheese and there are no left overs is 48

Answer: 48