Problem Solving

Q: In the Christmas Eve ,Steve Martin ,the eldest son of his parents ,went to movie theatre with all his family members.There his family purchased the tickets for every member.The entire family consists of 3 children,1 grandfather,1 grandmother , two fathers and two mothers 1 brother and 1 sister.Also there is one daughter in law ,one father in law and one mother in law.Minimum how many tickets his family has purchased for the entire family

a)5

b)6

c)8

d)14

e)16

Ans.[spoiler]b)6.[/spoiler]

GMATSUCKER wrote:Q: In the Christmas Eve ,Steve Martin ,the eldest son of his parents ,went to movie theatre with all his family members.There his family purchased the tickets for every member.The entire family consists of 3 children,1 grandfather,1 grandmother , two fathers and two mothers 1 brother and 1 sister.Also there is one daughter in law ,one father in law and one mother in law.Minimum how many tickets his family has purchased for the entire family

a)5

b)6

c)8

d)14

e)16

Ans.[spoiler]b)6.[/spoiler]

Father in law/mother in law/daughter in law - 1 father/1 mother/
The sister of steve martin is the daughter in law of some other family.
Grandfather/Grandmother/son - 1 father/1 mother/1 son
SO we have 2 fathers and 2 mothers

Answer should be 6?

vibhutirs wrote:Answer should be 6?

Yep,I guess you will find my explanation clear.
The main point is identifying the daughter-in-law thing.
Also,we hav 2 keep in mind dat we are talking about min. members over here.

harsh.champ wrote:

vibhutirs wrote:Answer should be 6?

Yep,I guess you will find my explanation clear.
The main point is identifying the daughter-in-law thing.
Also,we hav 2 keep in mind dat we are talking about min. members over here.

Please give a detail explanation.2 Fathers ,2 mothers ,who are the rest. I don't have the explanation only have the OA which is[spoiler]b)6[/spoiler]

We have to find minimum members satisfying the conditions. Best to start at the Top of the faamily tree work our way down.

Grandfather Grandmother ( Each of them is a father and mother )

Steve Martin is the eldest son of his parents ( one of the three children) and he has a family. So he is definitely not the brother but a father , infact the second father. Steve should have a wife. Can be other possibilities but will increase the no. of members unnecessarily. The wifey is also the mother , 2nd mother.
The brother and sister may just be Steve's brother or sis. But if we assume they are his kids then we have the remaining 2 kids. The in laws are obvious.[/img]

I just made a guess. Taking clues from the various answers the most plausible explanation I can come up with:there are 6 members in the family: Steve Martin's Grandfather and grandmother,Steve martin's father and mother, Steve Martin and his sister (both kids).

Steve martin's mother is the only daughter in law in the family,Steve martin's grandfather is the father in law of Steve Martin's mother & Steve Martin's grandmother is the mother in law of Steve Martin's mother.

Steve Martin's Grandfather and father are the two fathers and Steve Martin's grandmother and mother are the two mothers.

Steve Martin and his sister are the one brother and sister.

Steve Martin and his sister are two children and Steve Martin's father is the third child being the child of Steve Martin's grandparents.Though technically speaking Steve Martin's father is not a child/kid ,but he is the child of steve Martin's Grandparents ,nevertheless.Thus we have three children.

I regret there has been a mistake while posting this question,it was also mentioned that Steve Martin is 7 years old.

source[spoiler]Barron's Gmat practice problem[/spoiler] from a very old edition.

GMATSUCKER wrote:Q: In the Christmas Eve ,Steve Martin ,the eldest son of his parents ,went to movie theatre with all his family members.There his family purchased the tickets for every member.The entire family consists of 3 children,1 grandfather,1 grandmother , two fathers and two mothers 1 brother and 1 sister.Also there is one daughter in law ,one father in law and one mother in law.Minimum how many tickets his family has purchased for the entire family

a)5

b)6

c)8

d)14

e)16

Ans.[spoiler]b)6.[/spoiler]

SM : Steve Martin


the key is 3 children and if you take one child as SM's sis, it will give you the min. members.

___________________GrFather---- GrMother
___________________/_____\
________________SMSis____SM---- SM Wify
__________________________|
________________________SMSon