A person has three iron bars whose lengths are 20, 30, and 40 meters, respectively. He wants to cut pieces of the same length from each of the three bars. What is the least number of total pieces if he cuts without any wastage?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
The correct answer is option 3 i.e. 9.
Given that
A person has three iron bars whose lengths are 20, 30, and 40 meters, respectively
Cut pieces of equal length means the greatest common divisor (GCD) of three given lengths
According to the question
We find HCF of (20, 30, 40) = 10
So, he can cut pieces of 10 meters each from the three bars
Hence, the least number of total pieces = 20/10 + 30/10 + 40/10 = 2 + 3 + 4 = 9