St. Peter’s College of Misamis Oriental, Inc.

Balingasag, Misamis Oriental

BASIC MATHEMATICS HANDOUT

Prime Numbers:

Prime numbers are those numbers which have only two factors 1 and the number itself.

In other words, a number which is divisible by only itself and 1 is a prime number. So,
prime number has only two different factors 1 and the number itself.

For example, these numbers are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47,
etc which have only two factors i.e. 1 and the number itself.

Twin Primes:

If the difference between the two prime numbers is 2 they are called twin primes. For
example (3, 5), (5, 7) and (11, 13) are set of twin primes.

So, two consecutive prime numbers having only one number between them are called
twin primes.

In other words,

If two prime numbers can be paired with a difference of 2, that is they have one
composite number between them, then the pair is called a twin prime.

For example; (3, 5), (5, 7), (11, 13), (17, 19), (41, 43), (59, 61), (71, 73), etc.

Co-Prime Numbers:

If two numbers have only 1 as a common factor, they are called as co-primes. For
example (2, 3), (4, 5), (3, 7) and (4, 9) are co-primes.

Jay R Bayarcal
GCBayarcal@gmail.com
 St. Peter’s College of Misamis Oriental, Inc.
Balingasag, Misamis Oriental

BASIC MATHEMATICS HANDOUT

Composite Numbers:

Composite numbers are those numbers which have more than two factors.

In other words, a number that has more than two different factors is a composite
number. So, a composite number is also exactly divisible by numbers other than 1 and
itself.

For example, 4 is a composite number and it can be divided by 1, 2 and 4.

6 is a composite number and it can be divided by 1, 2, 3 and 6.

8 is a composite number and it can be divided by 1, 2, 4 and 8.

9 is a composite number and it can be divided by 1, 3 and 9.

Therefore, 1 is a unique number that is neither prime nor composite as it has only one
factor.

Note:

(i) 1 is neither a prime nor a composite number.

(ii) 2 is the smallest prime number.

(iii) 2 is the only even prime number.

(iv) No prime number ends with zero or 5.

Jay R Bayarcal
GCBayarcal@gmail.com
 St. Peter’s College of Misamis Oriental, Inc.
Balingasag, Misamis Oriental

BASIC MATHEMATICS HANDOUT

Find the Least Common Multiple (LCM) of Two Numbers

One of the reasons we look at multiples and primes is to use these techniques to find the least
common multiple of two numbers. This will be useful when we add and subtract fractions with
different denominators.

Listing Multiples Method

A common multiple of two numbers is a number that is a multiple of both numbers. Suppose we want to
find common multiples of 10 and 25. We can list the first several multiples of each number. Then we look
for multiples that are common to both lists—these are the common multiples.
10:10,20,30,40,50,60,70,80,90,100,110,…
25:25,50,75,100,125,…
We see that 50 and 100 appear in both lists. They are common multiples of 1010 and 2525. We
would find more common multiples if we continued the list of multiples for each.
The smallest number that is a multiple of two numbers is called the least common
multiple (LCM). So the least LCM of 10 and 25 is 50.

HOW TO: FIND THE LEAST COMMON MULTIPLE (LCM) OF

TWO NUMBERS BY LISTING MULTIPLES
Step 1. List the first several multiples of each number.
Step 2. Look for multiples common to both lists. If there are no common multiples in the lists,
write out additional multiples for each number.
Step 3. Look for the smallest number that is common to both lists.
Step 4. This number is the LCM.
Find the LCM of 15 and 20 by listing multiples.
Solution
List the first several multiples of 15 and of 20. Identify the first common multiple.
15:15,30,45,60,75,90,105,120
20:20,40,60,80,100,120,140,160
The smallest number to appear on both lists is 60, so 60 is the least common multiple
of 15 and 20. Notice that 120 is on both lists, too. It is a common multiple, but it is not the least
common multiple.

Jay R Bayarcal
GCBayarcal@gmail.com
 St. Peter’s College of Misamis Oriental, Inc.
Balingasag, Misamis Oriental

SECOND WRITTEN TEST

Name: Date: Score:

I. Choose all prime numbers:

12 19 7 8 9 11 15

13 24 27 23 34 37 36

Answers:

II. Write all the composite numbers less than 30.

Answers:

III. Write all the prime numbers less than 20.

Answer:

Jay R Bayarcal
GCBayarcal@gmail.com