GMAT Math : Problem-Solving Questions

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GMAT Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #61 : Understanding The Properties Of Integers

 and the greatest common divisor of  and  is , what is the least common multiple of  and ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

We can use the property that for  and , whose greatest common factor is  and whose least common multiple is , then .

Therefore,

  or .

Example Question #225 : Arithmetic

 , and the least common multiple of  and  is , what is their greatest common factor?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Using the property

  then, .

Notice that the GCD or greatest common divisor is the same thing as the GCF, or greatest common factor.

Example Question #231 : Arithmetic

 is a positive integer, which has an odd number of distinct factors, what is ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Another property of perfect squares, is that they will always have an odd number of distinct factors.

For example,  has the following factors, .

There are  distinct factors, which is an odd number.

The only perfect square in the answer choices is  , therefore, it is the final answer.

Example Question #1781 : Gmat Quantitative Reasoning

How many 's are there at the end of ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Firstly, we must remember that the number of zeros at the end will be given by the number of powers of ten that we have in the factorial of 30. Ten is the product of 2 and 5, and since there will be more powers of two in the product than powers of 5, the final answer is given by the number of powers of 5 in the product. (This is because a two will then multiply each of the fives, which would give us 10 raised to the power of however many five we have.) We can write them out : . Now we would be tempted to answer 6, since there are 6 multiples of 5, but in fact there are 7 fives since 25 is the product of two fives. 

Therefore, the final answer is .

Example Question #67 : Understanding The Properties Of Integers

How many 's are there at the end of ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

We must remember that the number of zeros at the end of  will be given by the number of powers of ten that we have in the factorial of 50. Ten is the product of 2 and 5, and since there will be more powers of two in the product than powers of 5, the final answer is given by the number of powers of 5 in the product. (This is because a two will then multiply each of the fives, which would give us 10 raised to the power of however many fives we have.)

We should write out all the multiples of 5 in the product as follows: 

. There are 10 multiples of 5, but in reality, since 25 and 50 both have  in their prime factorization, there are 12 fives in the product; therefore, there will be  zeros at the end of , since 12 even numbers will then multiply our 12 fives, which would give us 10 raised to the power of 12.

Example Question #1782 : Problem Solving Questions

By which number can  be divided, where  is a positive integer?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Here, the tricky part is that we might get confused by small values for  for which our product will be zero, namely for  and . Remember that  can't be zero since zero is not a positive number. But actually, zero can be divided by any number. Therefore, we must take a look at greater values for . Since the product is the product of two consecutive integers, the result will always be even; in other words it will be divisible by . Therefore, the final answer is .

Example Question #61 : Properties Of Integers

Which of the following can divide  , where  is a positive integer?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

We don't know , but we can see that it is the product of three consecutive integers; therefore, the product will either include two odd numbers and one even number or two even numbers and one odd number. This product can be divided by 3 and 2 or 6, since from three consecutive integers, at least one will be 3. Therefore,  is the final answer.

Example Question #70 : Understanding The Properties Of Integers

 and  are distinct positive integers.  is an even quantity. Which of the following must be even?

(You may assume all of these are positive quantities.)

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

Possible Answers:

(a), (b), and (c)

(c) only

(b) only

(a) only

None

Correct answer:

None

Explanation:

If  is even, then either both  and  are even or both are odd. 

If both  and  are even, then: 

(a)  and  are odd, and their product  is odd.

(b)  is even, both  and  are odd, and their product  is odd.

(c)  and  are even,  and  are odd, and their product  is odd.

If both  and  are odd, then: 

(a)  and  are even, and their product  is even.

(b)  is odd, both  and  are even, and their product  is even.

(c)  and  are odd,  and  are even, and their product  is even.

Therefore, all three expressions may be even or odd, and the correct response is none.

Example Question #1783 : Problem Solving Questions

If  and  are positive integers, and , when is  odd?

Possible Answers:

Only if one or both of  and  are odd.

Only if  and  are both even.

Only if  and  are both odd.

Only if one of  and  is odd and one is even.

Only if one or both of  and  are even.

Correct answer:

Only if one of  and  is odd and one is even.

Explanation:

We recognize the expression for  as a perfect square trinomial which can be rewritten as:

 is odd if and only if the square root  is odd. This happens if and only if one of  and  is even and one is odd - this is the correct response.

Example Question #232 : Arithmetic

If  and  are positive integers, and , when is  even?

Possible Answers:

Only if  and  are both odd.

Only if one of  and  is odd and one is even.

Only if one or both of  and  are odd.

Only if one or both of  and  are even.

Only if  and  are both even.

Correct answer:

Only if  and  are both even.

Explanation:

If  and  are both odd, then , the product of odd numbers, is odd, and , the sum of three odd numbers, is odd.

If  and  are both even, then , the product of even numbers, is even, and , the sum of three even numbers, is even.

If one of  and  is even and one is odd, then , which has an even factor, is even, and , the sum of two even numbers and an odd number, is odd.

Therefore,  is even if and only if  and  are both even.

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