L.C.M.xH.C.F.=productofnumbers?

YueKwokChoy
1. Fortwopositiveintegers a,b:

L. C. M. H. C. F.

Forexample,

3 5 120

b 2 3
18
L. C. M. 2
3
5 360
H. C. F. 2 3 6

a b 120 18 2160
L. C. M. H. C. F. 360 6

Theproofisnotdifficult:

LettheH.C.F.oftwonumbers a,b be H.C.F.

Wethenhave :

a=H.C.F.r

b=H.C.F.s

where H.C.F.(r,s)=1,i.e.randshavenocommonfactors.
Then

as=H.C.F.rs
br=H.C.F.rs

Now,sincerandshavenocommonfactors,wecannottakeoutafactorgreaterthan1in

the product rs. Hence,

H.C.F.rs=L.C.M.

2.

(1)(2),

2160

L. C. M. H. C. F.

a b

r s
a b

.. (1)
.. (2)

.. (3)

H. C. F.
r s
H. C. F. r s
H. C. F.
L. C. M. H. C. F.
,by(3)

Giventhreepositiveintegers,a,b,c:
a

L. C. M. H. C. F.

WhatistherelationbetweentheproductabcandL.C.M.andH.C.F.ofa,b,c?

HereisanassertionIgotthroughtheinternet.TheoriginalisinChinese.Imakesome
translationandrearrangements,withtheworkingsshownbelow.However,theassertionis
unfortunatelywrong.Canyoudisproveit?
1

Let theH.C.F.ofthreenumbers a,b,c be H.C.F.

Wethenhave :

a=H.C.F.r

b=H.C.F.s

c=H.C.F.t

where H.C.F.(r,s,t)=1,i.e.r,sandthavenocommonfactors.

Then

ast=H.C.F.rst

.. (i)

brt=H.C.F.rst

.. (ii)

crs=H.C.F.rst

.. (iii)

Now,sincer,sandthavenocommonfactors,wecannottakeoutafactor
greaterthan1intheproduct rst.

Hence,

H.C.F. rst =L.C.M.

(i)(ii)(iii),

b
b

rst

.. (iv)

H. C. F.

rst

H. C. F.
rst
H. C. F. rst
H. C. F.
L. C. M. H. C. F. ,
,by(iv).

Thebestwaytodisproveanassertionisnottofindwhereitmakesmistake.(although
thisisreallyverygoodexerciseforbrightreaderstodoso.)Thebestwayistofinda
counterexample.

b
c

2
2

Hence

L. C. M.
H. C. F.

2
2

L. C. M.

H. C. F.

30
12

30

12
3

L. C. M.

720

60
60 2
240
H. C. F.

Agoodcounterexamplecankillanassertion!
2

3.

L.C.M.,H.C.F.andproductof3numbers
Ifindthefollowingrelation:
Given a,b,carepositiveintegers,

LCM a, b, c

abc

HCF a, b
HCF b, c
HCF a, b, c

HCF c, a

Canwehaveaproof?Yes,itisdifficulttoshow,butnotimpossible.
Weguideourproofwiththehelpofadeliberatelymadeexample.

a
Let b
c

60
126
70

2 3
2 3
2

5
5

7
7

2
3

.. (5)

Thenumbersarewritteninprimefactors,butnotintheusualuniquerepresentation
withprimefactorsandindices.Wetakeoutfactorsinthefollowingorder:

(a) WetakeouttheHCF(a,b,c),inthiscaseis2.
(b) ThenwetakeoutcommonfactorsofaandbnotincludedintheH.C.F.(a,b,c).

(c) ThenwetakeoutcommonfactorsofbandcnotincludedintheH.C.F.(a,b,c).

(d) ThenwetakeoutcommonfactorsofcandanotincludedintheH.C.F.(a,b,c).

(e) Lastlyweplaceallotherfactorsintherightmostposition.Inthiscase,2foraand3for

b. Theotherfactors forahavenocommonfactorswiththeotherfactorsforbor

c. Similarlyconclusionholdsforbsorcs remainingfactors.

HCF ,

Inthiscaseis3.NotethatH.C.F.(a,b)is6 and 3

HCF , ,

HCF

Inthiscaseis3.NotethatH.C.F.(a,b)is10 and 5

HCF , ,

HCF ,

Inthiscaseis3.NotethatH.C.F.(a,b)is14 and 7

HCF , ,

Thegivennumbersa,b,cin(5)maybemoreorlesscomplicate,butwecanalways
arrangeusingtheabovescheme. Therefore ingeneral:

HCF a, b, c

HCF a, b, c

HCF a, b, c

HCF ,
HCF , ,
HCF ,

HCF

HCF , ,
HCF

HCF , ,
HCF

HCF , ,

HCF , ,
HCF ,
HCF , ,

.. (6)

whered,e,fareotherfactorsmentionedin(e)above.
3

TheL.C.M.ofthegivennumericalexample(5)is 2
SotheL.C.M.of(6)isgivenby

LCM a, b, c

Theproductofthenumbersin(5)is:

abc
2 3
Similarlyfor(6),

abc

whichisthesameas
abc

HCF ,

HCF a, b, c
HCF ,

2 2

HCF

3 2

HCF ,

HCF a, b, c
HCF ,

HCF

HCF

HCF

def

HCF

HCF , ,

LCM a, b, c

LCM a, b, c

HCF , ,

HCF , ,
HCF

HCF , ,
,

HCF ,

def
HCF

def

HCF

HCF , ,

HCF a, b
HCF b, c
HCF a, b, c

1260 .

def

.. (7)

60 126 70
,

HCF

529200

def

HCF

HCF , ,
HCF

HCF , ,

HCF , ,

HCF ,

HCF

HCF , ,

HCF , ,

HCF ,

HCF

HCF , ,

HCF

,by(7).

HCF c, a

4. Furtheron.

Given a,b,c,darepositiveintegers,

Let

HCF2

HCF a, b

HCF3
HCF4

HCF a, b, c
HCF a, b, d
HCF a, b, c, d

abcd

HCF a, d

HCF b, c

HCF a, c, d

LCM a, b, c, d
HCF2
HCF3

HCF4

HCF b, d

HCF c, d

HCF b, c, d

Furtheronwehave
LCM a, b, c, d,
HCF2 HCF4
HCF3 HCF5 .
whereHCF5,HCF6,. aresimilarlydefined.
abcd

5.

HCF a, c

HCF6

Exercise

CanyouuseaspreadsheetsuchasEXCELtocheckthecorrectnessoftheabove
equations(4),(8) fortheproductof3or4integers?Doyouthinkthatequation(9)isalso
correct?
4