Lesson 1.

6 HCF and LCM

Specification references

Statement Higher
1.4 Evaluate Highest Common Factors (HCF) and Lowest Common Multiples
(LCM).

Collins references

Student Book pages 15 17

Learning objectives

Identify the least common multiple (LCM) of two numbers.

Identify the highest common factor (HCF) of two numbers

Key words

lowest common multiple, highest common factor

Prior knowledge
Students will need to know the multiplication tables to 10 10.

Common mistakes and remediation

Students often miss out one and the number itself. Remind them always to begin with one. Many
students will mix up the terms multiple and factor. Relate the word multiple to multiplications.

Useful tips
Remind students that factors always include 1 and the number itself.

Starter

Ask students to give the factors of 18 and 36.

Ask how many factors does each number have? (18: 6 factors, 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 and 18; 36: 9 factors, 1,
2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, 36).

Ask what are the common factors. What can they say about 18? (It is the highest common factor.)

Edexcel IGCSE Maths Teachers Pack HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2011 16

 Lesson 1.6 HCF and LCM

Main lesson activity

Highest common factor

Ask students to work in pairs, writing factors of numbers onto their whiteboards. Give the first
student, for example, the number 12 and ask for the factors. (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12) Give the second
student, for example, the number 15 and ask for the factors. (1, 3, 5, 15)

Now ask them to see what is the highest number they have in common on their whiteboards. (3)
Explain that this is called the highest common factor. Repeat for other numbers.

Work through the text on HCF on page 15 of the Student Book. Most students will prefer the first
method and have more success with it. Less able students should concentrate on this method.

Students can now complete questions 13 of Exercise 1G.

Least common multiple

Ask students to give multiples of 2. (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, ...) Then ask students to give multiples of 5. (5,
10, 15, 20, ...)

Ask students to give some multiples that were common to both lists. (10, 20, 30, ...) Ask them to say
which common multiple is the least (10). Explain that is called the least common multiple (LCM). So
10 is the LCM of 2 and 5.

Work through the text on LCM on page 15 of the Student Book. Most students will prefer the first
method and have more success with it. Less able students should concentrate on this method.

Students can now complete questions 46 of Exercise 1G.

Plenary

The Student Book shows one way of finding the LCM, which is likely to suit kinaesthetic learners
more. Another way is to use Venn diagrams with prime factors.

Multiply all the numbers that appear in the various regions of the diagram:
2 3 3 7 = 126. So LCM of 42 and 63 is 126. This method may
appeal to the visual learners in the class.

The highest common factor (HCF) of two numbers is the biggest factor
shared by both numbers. An alternative way to find this is again to use the
Venn diagram. From the diagram above, the HCF is the product of the
numbers that appear in the intersection of the sets.

Finally, let students pick their favourite method to find the LCM and HCF of 28 and 40. (LCM = 280,
HCF = 4)Ask students how they can use 2 3 2 2 2 to obtain factors, e.g. 2 2 2 2 = 16
so the factor pair is 3 and 16.

Homework and answers

Homework for this lesson is available in the homework folder. Consolidation and extension exercises are
available in the further practice folder. Answers to the exercises can be found in the answers folder.

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