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100 points for $49 worth of Veritas practice GMATs FREE VERITAS PRACTICE GMAT EXAMS Earn 10 Points Per Post Earn 10 Points Per Thanks Earn 10 Points Per Upvote ## If x and y are integers, is x a multiple of 5? tagged by: Max@Math Revolution ##### This topic has 1 expert reply and 0 member replies ### GMAT/MBA Expert ## If x and y are integers, is x a multiple of 5? [GMAT math practice question] If x and y are integers, is x a multiple of 5? 1) x+y is a multiple of 5 2) x+2y is a multiple of 5 _________________ Math Revolution Finish GMAT Quant Section with 10 minutes to spare. The one-and-only Worldâ€™s First Variable Approach for DS and IVY Approach for PS with ease, speed and accuracy. Only$99 for 3 month Online Course
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Forget conventional ways of solving math questions. For DS problems, the VA (Variable Approach) method is the quickest and easiest way to find the answer without actually solving the problem. Remember that equal numbers of variables and independent equations ensure a solution.

Since we have 2 variables (x and y) and 0 equations, C is most likely to be the answer. So, we should consider conditions 1) & 2) together first. After comparing the number of variables with the number of equations, we can save time by considering conditions 1) & 2) together first.

Conditions 1) & 2):
x = 2(x+y) - (x+2y) is a multiple of 5 since 2(x+y) and (x+2y) are multiples of 5.
Thus, both conditions 1) & 2) together are sufficient.

Since this question is an integer question (one of the key question areas), CMT (Common Mistake Type) 4(A) of the VA (Variable Approach) method tells us that we should also check answers A and B.

Condition 1)
If x = 5 and y = 5, x is a multiple of 5, and the answer is â€˜yesâ€™.
If x = 2 and y = 3, x is not a multiple of 5, and the answer is â€˜noâ€™.
Thus condition 1) is not sufficient.

Condition 2)
If x = 5 and y = 5, x is a multiple of 5, and the answer is â€˜yesâ€™.
If x = 1 and y = 2, x is not a multiple of 5, and the answer is â€˜noâ€™.
Thus condition 2) is not sufficient.

Normally, in problems which require 2 equations, such as those in which the original conditions include 2 variables, or 3 variables and 1 equation, or 4 variables and 2 equations, each of conditions 1) and 2) provide an additional equation. In these problems, the two key possibilities are that C is the answer (with probability 70%), and E is the answer (with probability 25%). Thus, there is only a 5% chance that A, B or D is the answer. This occurs in common mistake types 3 and 4. Since C (both conditions together are sufficient) is the most likely answer, we save time by first checking whether conditions 1) and 2) are sufficient, when taken together. Obviously, there may be cases in which the answer is A, B, D or E, but if conditions 1) and 2) are NOT sufficient when taken together, the answer must be E.

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