Two positive integers a and b are divisible by 5, which is

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RBBmba@2014: Legendary Member; Posts: 944; Joined: Wed May 30, 2012 8:21 amFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 8 times

by RBBmba@2014 » Tue May 12, 2015 2:32 am

Two positive integers a and b are divisible by 5, which is their largest common factor. What is the value of a and b?

(1) The lowest number that has both integers a and b as its factors is the product of one of the integers and the greatest common divisor of the two integers.

(2) The smaller integer is divisible by 4 numbers and has the smallest odd prime number as its factor.

OA: E

P.S: It took me more than 3.5 mins to solve. Would much appreciate any faster and smarter solution from Experts.Much thanks in advance!

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Data Sufficiency | Tue May 12, 2015 2:32 am

GMATGuruNY: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 15539; Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pmFollowed by: 1906 members; Location: New York, NY; Thanked: 13060 times; GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Tue May 12, 2015 5:37 am

Question stem: What is THE VALUE of a and b?

The question stem is poorly worded.
It seems to imply that a and b have the same value, even though statement 2 indicates that one of the values is smaller than the other.
If the question stem is asking for both the value of a and the value of b, then it does not seem representative of an actual GMAT DS.
Generally, official DS problems do not ask for the values of two variables.
If this problem were to appear on the GMAT, it would most likely ask for the SUM of a and b.
I would ignore this problem.
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RBBmba@2014: Legendary Member; Posts: 944; Joined: Wed May 30, 2012 8:21 amFollowed by: 5 members; Thanked: 8 times

by RBBmba@2014 » Tue May 12, 2015 9:48 am

Mitch - You're correct.It's not an official question, so I presume it should be from any prep companies!

Per the OA, it appears that a & b are considered to be different.

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