
If I found 10 million dollars that truly had no owner, I’d first report it to the authorities. If it was legally cleared to be mine, I’d use it wisely—invest most of it, support my family, donate some to causes I care about, and save the rest for future plans. But legality and ethics would come first.
We are given:
Seeta made necklaces of either 16, 20, or 36 beads.
No bead was left over in any case.
We are to find the least number of beads she could have had.
🧠 This is a classic LCM problem.
We are to find the Least Common Multiple (LCM) of 16, 20, and 36.
🔹 Step 1: Prime factorization
16 = 2⁴
20 = 2² × 5
36 = 2² × 3²
Now take the highest powers of all primes:
2⁴, 3², 5
LCM=24×32×5=16×9×5=144×5=720\text{LCM} = 2⁴ × 3² × 5 = 16 × 9 × 5 = 144 × 5 = 720
✅ Final Answer:
Seeta had at least 720 beads.