High School

The numbers 120 and 126, written as the products of their prime factors, are:

- 120 = [tex]2^3 \times 3 \times 5[/tex]
- 126 = [tex]2 \times 3^2 \times 7[/tex]

Find the smallest whole number that is divisible by both 120 and 126.

Answer :

Final answer:

To find the smallest whole number by using prime factorization that is divisible by both 120 and 126, we need to find their common factors.

Explanation:

To find the smallest whole number that is divisible by both 120 and 126, we need to find their common factors. The prime factorization of 120 is 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 x 5, and the prime factorization of 126 is 2 x 3 x 3 x 7.

To find the common factors, we take the highest power of each prime factor that appears in both factorizations, which gives us 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 x 3 x 5 x 7 = 2³ x 3² x 5 x 7. Therefore, the smallest whole number that is divisible by both 120 and 126 is 2³ x 3² x 5 x 7 = 5040.

Learn more about the topic of prime factorization here: brainly.com/question/29775157

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