Find Least Common Multiple of 36, 48 and 42 by listing out the factors.

LCM( 36, 48, 42 ) = 1008

Write down multiples of each number until you find the first common multiple:

The multipliers of 36 are: 36, 72, 108, 144, 180, 216, 252, 288, 324, 360, 396, 432, 468, 504, 540, 576, 612, 648, 684, 720, 756, 792, 828, 864, 900, 936, 972, 1008, 1044, . . .

The multipliers of 48 are: 48, 96, 144, 192, 240, 288, 336, 384, 432, 480, 528, 576, 624, 672, 720, 768, 816, 864, 912, 960, 1008, 1056, . . .

The multipliers of 42 are: 42, 84, 126, 168, 210, 252, 294, 336, 378, 420, 462, 504, 546, 588, 630, 672, 714, 756, 798, 840, 882, 924, 966, 1008, 1050, . . .

We can see that:

LCM( 36, 48, 42 ) = 1008

This solution can be visualized using a Venn diagram.

The LCM is equal to the product of all the numbers on the diagram.