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Printjmc
prealgebra intermediate
Problem
The Newport Crab Company marks the location of its crab pots with colored balloons. They mark every fourth pot with a red balloon, every sixth pot with a blue balloon, and every tenth pot with a yellow balloon. After placing 600 crab pots in the bay, how many pots have three different colored balloons attached?
Solution
A pot will have 3 different colored balloons on it if it is a multiple of 4, 6, and 10. Thus, we must first find the LCM of 4, 6, and 10. , , and . For a number to be a multiple of all three of these numbers, it prime factorization must have a 2 raised to at least the second power, a 3 raised to at least the first power, and a 5 raised to at least the first power. Thus, the least common multiple is . Thus, every 60th pot will have 3 different colored balloons on it. Because there are 600 total pots, the number of pots with 3 different colored balloons on it is .
Final answer
10