A school administrator...

This topic has expert replies
User avatar
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 35
Joined: Sun Jul 31, 2011 9:39 pm
Thanked: 2 times
Followed by:1 members

A school administrator...

by Elena89 » Fri Dec 16, 2011 6:02 am
Source: OG-12

A school administrator will assign each student in a group of n students to one of m classrooms. If 3 < m < 13 < n, is it possible to assign each of the n students to one of the m classrooms so that each classroom has the same number of students assigned to it?

(1) It is possible to assign each of 3n students to one of m classrooms so that each classroom has the same number of students assigned to it.
(2) It is possible to assign each of 13n students to one of m classrooms so that each classroom has the same number of students assigned to it.

I don't get OG's explanation for this one. Can anyone explain how to solve it?

User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 588
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:42 am
Location: New Delhi, India
Thanked: 130 times
Followed by:9 members
GMAT Score:720

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 3835
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:00 pm
Location: Milpitas, CA
Thanked: 1854 times
Followed by:523 members
GMAT Score:770

by Anurag@Gurome » Fri Dec 16, 2011 6:16 am
Elena89 wrote:Source: OG-12

A school administrator will assign each student in a group of n students to one of m classrooms. If 3 < m < 13 < n, is it possible to assign each of the n students to one of the m classrooms so that each classroom has the same number of students assigned to it?

(1) It is possible to assign each of 3n students to one of m classrooms so that each classroom has the same number of students assigned to it.
(2) It is possible to assign each of 13n students to one of m classrooms so that each classroom has the same number of students assigned to it.

I don't get OG's explanation for this one. Can anyone explain how to solve it?

The question can be rephrased as "If 3 < m < 13 < n, is n/m an integer?"

(1) The information in statement 1 implies that 3n/m is an integer. Now we have find whether n/m is an integer.
Given that 3 < m < 13 < n, if n = 36 and m = 6, then n/m is an integer.
On the other hand if n = 40 and m = 6, then n/m is not an integer.
Since we don't get a unique answer, so (1) is NOT SUFFICIENT.

(2) According to the statement, 13n/m is an integer.
3 < m < 13 < n implies that m lies between 3 and 13 but is not 13, so 13n/m can be integer only if n/m is an integer.
So, (2) is SUFFICIENT.

The correct answer is B.
Anurag Mairal, Ph.D., MBA
GMAT Expert, Admissions and Career Guidance
Gurome, Inc.
1-800-566-4043 (USA)

Join Our Facebook Groups
GMAT with Gurome
https://www.facebook.com/groups/272466352793633/
Admissions with Gurome
https://www.facebook.com/groups/461459690536574/
Career Advising with Gurome
https://www.facebook.com/groups/360435787349781/