$100 to anyone who can do this....

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$100 to anyone who can do this....

by litteraround » Sun Jun 15, 2008 1:07 pm
When 10 is divided by the positive integer n, the remainder is n-4. Which of these could be the value of n?

a. 3
b. 4
c. 7
d. 8
e. 12

Please, give a clear explanation as to how you get the answer.


(btw, th $100 part is a joke :wink: )
Last edited by litteraround on Sat Feb 20, 2010 10:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
Source: — Problem Solving |

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by jasonc » Sun Jun 15, 2008 1:45 pm
the question can be translated into
(n-4) + xn = 10
(where x is some positive integer or 0; and n-4>0=> n>4, since the reminder can't be negative)

n+xn = 14
n(1+x) = 14

n has to be 14, 14/2 = 7, 14/3, etc
also, remember that n>4

so n must be 14 or 7.
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by litteraround » Sun Jun 15, 2008 1:50 pm
hmmm.... THanks a lot, jasonc.

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by jasonc » Sun Jun 15, 2008 1:54 pm
btw the simplest and fastest method to solve this is probably to just plug in the number and try each (thats the first thing that came to my mind when reading the question)

If you are decent at mental math, it shouldn't take more than 2 secs to eliminate choices a, b, and get to the right answer at c, so you can potentially solve this one in ~30 secs or less, depending on how fast you read.
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by chipjet » Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:11 am
What the heck am I missing here? I thought that 10/7 = 1 r3.

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by chipjet » Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:59 am
What the heck am I missing here? I thought that 10/7 = 1 r3.

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by egybs » Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:14 pm
chipjet wrote:What the heck am I missing here? I thought that 10/7 = 1 r3.
reread the questions... :-)

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by chipjet » Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:25 pm
Ha! And that's why I will never score above a 50 on the quant section. :-)

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by egybs » Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:31 pm
If you only knew how many mistakes I make because I don't read the questions... :-)