There is a circular path around a sports field. Sonia takes 18 minutes to drive one round of the field, while Ravi takes 12 minutes for the same. Suppose they both start at the same point and at the same time, and go in the same direction. After how many minutes will they meet again at the starting point?
It can be observed that Ravi takes lesser time than Sonia for completing 1 round of the circular path. As they are going in the same direction, they will meet again at the same time when Ravi will have completed 1 round of that circular path with respect to Sonia. And the total time taken for completing this 1 round of circular path will be the LCM of time taken by Sonia and Ravi for completing 1 round of circular path respectively i.e., LCM of 18 minutes and 12 minutes.
18 = 2 × 3 × 3
And, 12 = 2 × 2 × 3
LCM of 12 and 18 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 = 36
Therefore, Ravi and Sonia will meet together at the starting pointafter 36 minutes.