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| Question 515185:  Find the LCM of (9+7r), (81-49r^2), and (9-7r)
 Thanks,
 Dee
 
 Answer by drcole(72)
      (Show Source): 
You can put this solution on YOUR website! To find the least common multiple, we need to first factor each of the expressions.  The first,  , and the third,  , cannot be factored, but the second,  , is the difference of two squares: 
  and   Remembering that every difference of two squares
  can be factored as: 
   we get that
 
   So we are trying to find the least common multiple of
  ,  , and  .  The least common multiple of three expressions A, B, and C is the simplest expression that contains A, B, and C in its factorization.  So the least common multiple has to contain at least one  and one  in its factorization, since those appear in A and C.  Do we need anything else?  No, because  , so  doesn't add any new factors to the least common multiple.  So the least common multiple must be  or  .
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