The least common multiple of 54c 2de 3 and 38c 4 is _____.

342 c 2
342 c 4de 3
1,026 c 4de 3
1,026 c 4

1 answer

To find the least common multiple (LCM) of two polynomials, we'll first break down the individual polynomials to their factors.

  1. Factor each polynomial:

    • \(54c^2de^3\): We break this down into numerical and variable parts:
      • The numerical part \(54 = 2 \times 3^3\) (since \(54 = 2 \cdot 27 = 2 \cdot 3 \cdot 9 = 2 \cdot 3^3\)).
      • The variable part is \(c^2d^1e^3\).

    Thus, we can write: \[ 54c^2de^3 = 2 \cdot 3^3 \cdot c^2 \cdot d^1 \cdot e^3 \]

    • \(38c^4\): Similarly, we break this down:
      • The numerical part \(38 = 2 \cdot 19\).
      • The variable part is \(c^4\).

    Thus: \[ 38c^4 = 2 \cdot 19 \cdot c^4 \]

  2. Calculate the LCM:

    • For the numerical part, we take the highest powers of each prime factor:
      • For \(2\), the highest power is \(2^1\) (appears in both).
      • For \(3\), the highest power is \(3^3\) (from \(54\)).
      • For \(19\), the highest power is \(19^1\) (from \(38\)).

    So for the coefficients, we get: \[ LCM(54, 38) = 2^1 \cdot 3^3 \cdot 19^1 = 2 \cdot 27 \cdot 19 = 2 \cdot 513 = 1026 \]

    • For the variable parts, we take the highest powers:
      • For \(c\), we take \(c^4\) (the highest power from \(38c^4\)).
      • For \(d\), we take \(d^1\) (appearing in \(54c^2de^3\)).
      • For \(e\), we take \(e^3\) (from \(54c^2de^3\)).

    Thus, we get: \[ c^4d^1e^3 \]

  3. Combine the results:

    • The LCM is: \[ LCM(54c^2de^3, 38c^4) = 1026c^4de^3 \]

From the provided options, the equivalent form of our result is \(1,026c^4de^3\).

Thus, the answer is: \[ \boxed{1,026c^4de^3} \]