Problem Solving

Hi All,

We're told that the weights of four packages are 1, 3, 5, and 7 pounds, respectively. We're asked which of the following CANNOT be the total weight, in pounds, of ANY combination of the packages. This question comes down to basic Arithmetic - and you might find that it's easiest to just 'brute force' the solution (meaning that you should try to add together various combinations of those 4 numbers to get the 4 totals that ARE possible).

Answer A: 9 pounds --> 1 + 3 + 5
Answer B: 10 pounds --> 3 + 7
Answer C: 12 pounds --> 5 + 7
Answer D: 13 pounds --> 1 + 5 + 7

There's only one answer remaining...

Final Answer: E

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

BTGmoderatorLU wrote:Source: Official Guide

The weights of four packages are 1, 3, 5, and 7 pounds, respectively. Which of the following CANNOT be the total weight, in pounds, of any combination of the packages?

A. 9
B. 10
C. 12
D. 13
E. 14

Let's examine each answer choice:

A) 9

1 + 3 + 5 = 9

B) 10

3 + 7 = 10

C) 12

5 + 7 = 12

D) 13

1 + 5 + 7 = 13

Since we eliminated every other choice, we know at this point that the answer is E. However, let's evaluate answer choice E for practice:

E) 14

We can see that 1 + 5 + 7 = 13 and 3 + 5 + 7 = 15, so it can't be 14.

Answer: E