Three bells toll at intervals of 8 minutes, 15 minutes and 24 minutes respectively. If they toll together at 3 p.m, at what time will they next toll together again?
What is the least common multiple of 8, 15, and 24?
What is the answer
Reply
To find out when the bells will next toll together, you need to find the smallest common multiple of 8, 15, and 24, as this will give you the time interval at which they will all toll together again.
First, list the multiples of each number until you find a common multiple:
Multiples of 8: 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, ...
Multiples of 15: 15, 30, 45, 60, ...
Multiples of 24: 24, 48, 72, ...
As you can see, the smallest number that is a multiple of all three is 24. So, the bells will next toll together after 24 minutes.
Next, add this time interval (24 minutes) to the original time (3 p.m.) to find out the next time the bells will toll together:
3 p.m. + 24 minutes = 3:24 p.m.
Therefore, the bells will next toll together at 3:24 p.m.