The floor of a hall 16 m long and 12 m wide is to be paved with square tiles of the same size. If the least number of tiles is to be used, how many tiles are needed?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → 12
The fewest tiles means the largest square tile. Its side must fit a whole number of times along both the length and the width, so the side is the HCF of 16 and 12.
HCF of 16 and 12 \(=4\), so each tile is 4 m by 4 m
Tiles along the length \(=16\div4=4\)
Tiles along the width \(=12\div4=3\)
Number of tiles \(=4\times3=12\)
The least number of tiles is 12.