The store sells nuts in packs of 20 and bolts in packs of 11. If to buy the same number of nuts and bolts, what is the smallest number of nuts that he can buy?

Question

11 

20

What is the smallest number of nuts that he can buy?

Answer 1

Hi Coco,

 

To solve this problem, we need to look for a number that is the Lowest Common Multiple (LCM) of the numbers (20 and 11).

 

We can find this number by breaking each number down into its prime factors and then multiplying all the factors that are NOT common to both numbers:

    Prime factors of 20 = 2 x 2 x 5

    Prime factors of 11 = 11 (1 is NOT a prime factor)

 

We can see that there are No common prime factors for both numbers, so we simply multiply all these prime factors to get the LCM of these two numbers:

    LCM = 2 x 2 x 5 x 11 = 4 x 5 x 11 = 20 x 11 = 220

 

So our answer is 220 - the smallest number of nuts that will also be the same number of bolts.

 

This problem tested our understanding of the number property (LCM).

 

Thanks for submitting this problem and glad to help.

 

God bless, Jordan.