Solution:

To determine when the three bells will toll together again, we need to find the least common multiple (LCM) of the intervals at which they toll.

Step 1: Find the LCM of 16, 20, and 24 seconds

To find the LCM, we can start by listing the multiples of each number until we find a common multiple.

Multiples of 16: 16, 32, 48, 64, 80, 96, 112, 128, 144, 160, ...

Multiples of 20: 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, 160, ...

Multiples of 24: 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144, 168, 192, 216, 240, ...

From the lists above, we can see that the first common multiple is 80. Therefore, the LCM of 16, 20, and 24 is 80 seconds.

Step 2: Convert the LCM to hours and minutes

Since the bells started tolling at 8 AM, we need to add the LCM of 80 seconds to this time to find when they will toll together again.

Adding the LCM to the starting time:
8 AM + 80 seconds = 8:01:20 AM

Therefore, the three bells will toll together again at 8:01:20 AM.

Explanation:

The three bells toll at intervals of 16 seconds, 20 seconds, and 24 seconds respectively. These intervals can be thought of as multiples of their respective numbers. For example, the first bell tolls every 16 seconds, which can be written as 16 * n, where n is a positive integer representing the number of tolls.

To find when the bells will toll together again, we need to find the least common multiple (LCM) of these intervals. The LCM is the smallest number that is divisible by all three numbers, in this case, 16, 20, and 24. By listing the multiples of each number, we can find the first common multiple, which is 80 seconds.

To determine the time when the bells will toll together again, we add the LCM of 80 seconds to the starting time of 8 AM. This gives us a new time of 8:01:20 AM, when the three bells will toll together again.

Therefore, the answer is 8:01:20 AM.

I find LCM but LCM answer is 240?