Primes, HCF and LCM

Chapter 1 Study Notes · O-Level 4052

Section 11 of 11
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Chapter Summary

Classifying and factorising

  • Prime: exactly two factors. Composite: more than two. 11 is neither.
  • Test a number by dividing by the primes up to n\sqrt{n}.
  • Every composite has one prime factorisation, by factor tree or repeated division.

Reading the indices

  • HCF: common primes only, at the smallest index.
  • LCM: every prime, at the largest index.
  • Perfect square: all indices even; halve them for the root.
  • Perfect cube: all indices multiples of 33; divide by 33 for the root.
For any two numbers a and b
a×b=(their HCF)×(their LCM)\displaystyle a \times b = (\text{their HCF}) \times (\text{their LCM})
Later: LCM comes back as the common denominator (Sec 2, Algebraic Fractions)

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Questions on Primes, HCF and LCM, marked as you go, with the working shown.

Practise Primes, HCF and LCM