Hi, there. I'm happy to help with this.
First of all, I will say --- the GMAT does ask about divisibility, but this question is much harder than anything I have ever seen the GMAT ask.
Prompt:
When a positive integer 'x' is divided by a divisor 'd', the remainder is 24. What is d?
This means, for some quotient Q, x/d = Q + 24, or in other words: x = Qd + 24
Statement #1:
When 2x is divided by d, the remainder is 23.
x = Qd + 24, so 2x = 2*(Qd + 24) = 2Qd + 48
When we divide 2x = 2Qd + 48 by d, d clearly goes evenly into 2Qd. When we divide 48/d, we get a remainder of 23. That means d must go evenly into 48 - 23 = 25. We see that d can't be 5, because when we divide 48 by 5, the remainder is 3, not 23. The only possibility is d = 25. Statement #1, by itself, is
sufficient to determine a definitive value for d.
Statement #2:
When 3x is divided by d, the remainder is 22.
x = Qd + 24, so 3x = 3*(Qd + 24) = 3Qd + 72
When we divide 3x = 3Qd + 72 by d, d clearly goes evenly into 3Qd. When we divide 72/d, we get a remainder of 22. That means d must go evenly into 72 - 22 = 50. We see that d can't be 5 or 10, because d must be bigger than the remainder (the divisor is
always greater than the remainder). Here, d could be 25 or 50. Both 25 and 50 are bigger than the remainder 22, and both of them, when divided into 72, give a remainder of 22. This statements, by itself, does not determine a unique and definitive value of d --- it leaves open two possibilities. Statement #2 is
insufficient.
Answer =
A
Again, this problem is a bit trickier than what I've seen the GMAT ask about divisibility & remainders. Here's a somewhat more GMAT-like question on this topic:
https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/873
When you submit an answer to this question, the next page will give a complete video explanation.
Does all this make sense? Please let me know if you have any further questions about this.
Mike
