Least common multiple

FCC link

The least common multiple of 12 and 18 is 36, because 12 is a factor (12 × 3 = 36), and 18 is a factor (18 × 2 = 36), and there is no positive integer less than 36 that has both factors. As a special case, if either m or n is zero, then the least common multiple is zero. One way to calculate the least common multiple is to iterate all the multiples of m, until you find one that is also a multiple of n. If you already have gcd for greatest common divisor, then this formula calculates lcm. ( \operatorname{lcm}(m, n) = \frac{|m \times n|}{\operatorname{gcd}(m, n)} )