Question

Susan is buying supplies for a party. Spoons only come in bags of 12 and forks only come in bags of 22.

What is the least number of spoons and the least number of forks she can buy so that she has the same number of each?.

Answer 1

The least number of spoons = 11 spoons

The least number of forks = 6 forks

Explanation:

We are told in the question:

Spoons only come in bags of 12

Forks only come in bags of 22.

This is an LCM question, hence, we find the Multiples of 12 and 22

The first common multiple is found and this is the lowest common multiple.

Multiples of 12:

12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96, 108, 120, 132, 144, 156

Multiples of 22:

22, 44, 66, 88, 110, 132, 154, 176

Therefore,

LCM(12, 22) = 132

The least number of supplies she can have is 132.

So therefore,

The least number of spoons = 132 ÷ 12 bags of spoons = 11 spoons

The least number of forks = 132 ÷ 22 bags of forks = 6 spoons.