Tough One

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by knight247 » Sat Oct 01, 2011 11:07 am
If x and y are positive integers such that x=8y+12, what is the greatest common divisor of x and y ?
(1)x = 12u, where u is an integer.
(2)y = 12z, where z is an integer.

Don't have an OA. Sorry

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by GmatMathPro » Sat Oct 01, 2011 11:59 am
Statement 1: x=12u, where u is an integer tells us that x is a multiple of 12. This will not be sufficient to find the gcd. x=8y+12, so x is only a multiple of 12 when y is a multiple of 3 (do you see why?) When y=3 x=36, gcd(3,36)=3. When y=6, x=60, gcd(6,60)=6. INSUFFICIENT

Statement 2: y=12z. plugging this in to the expression and simplifying gives us x=12(8z+1). Clearly, then x and y have 12 as a common factor, but we need to see if z and 8z+1 have any common factors. It is impossible that z and 8z+1 would share a common factor. Anything you can factor out of z, you could factor out of 8z, but the +1 is the deal breaker. For example, if z=9, 8z+1=8(9)+1 if you try to factor a 9 out of 8(9)+1 you get 9(8+1/9), which clearly doesn't work. Thus, 12 is the gcd whenever y is a multiple of 12.

Therefore the answer is B
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by GmatKiss » Mon Oct 03, 2011 10:19 am
knight247 wrote:If x and y are positive integers such that x=8y+12, what is the greatest common divisor of x and y ?
(1)x = 12u, where u is an integer.
(2)y = 12z, where z is an integer.

Don't have an OA. Sorry
lets sub for (1)

LEAST x=12 , 12 =8y +12 => 8y=0
say x=24 , 24 =8y+12 => 8y=12

GCD is not the same, insufficent!

Lets sub for (2)

Least y=12 , x=8*12 + 12 (gcd of x and y = 12)
other value say y=36 , x=8*12*3 + 12 (gcd is again 12)

Sufficient!

IMO:B