for this march?

[sanju09]

An army contingent of 14 is to march ahead of a band of 399 soldiers in columns. What is the maximum number of columns that are possible for this march?
(A) 2
(B) 7
(C) 14
(D) 19
(E) 57

[harsh.champ]

An army contingent of 14 is to march ahead of a band of 399 soldiers in columns. What is the maximum number of columns(It is not specified column of what-total soldiers or 14 or 399 soldiers) that are possible for this march?
(A) 2
(B) 7
(C) 14
(D) 19
(E) 57

399 = 57 x 7

I am taking 7 since we have 14 people which can be divided into 2 columns.
It can be 2 or 57 or 59.
So,acc. to my understanding,the answer will be A

[sanju09]

An army contingent of 14 is to march ahead of a band of 399 soldiers in columns. What is the maximum number of columns(It is not specified column of what-total soldiers or 14 or 399 soldiers) that are possible for this march?
(A) 2
(B) 7
(C) 14
(D) 19
(E) 57

399 = 57 x 7

I am taking 7 since we have 14 people which can be divided into 2 columns.
[spoiler]It can be 2 or 57 or ?59?.[/spoiler]
So,acc. to my understanding,the answer will be A

The contingent of 14 would fill the first (few) row(s), and the 399 soldiers in the band would fill the susequent rows that would follow it. A predetermined army march in columns may be understood as each column is having a fixed and same number of soldiers etc.

Which part of the above mentioned piece of information was must to be given with the stem? Any suggestions?

[harsh.champ]

An army contingent of 14 is to march ahead of a band of 399 soldiers in columns. What is the maximum number of columns(It is not specified column of what-total soldiers or 14 or 399 soldiers) that are possible for this march?
(A) 2
(B) 7
(C) 14
(D) 19
(E) 57

399 = 57 x 7

I am taking 7 since we have 14 people which can be divided into 2 columns.
[spoiler]It can be 2 or 57 or ?59?.[/spoiler]
So,acc. to my understanding,the answer will be A

The contingent of 14 would fill the first (few) row(s), and the 399 soldiers in the band would fill the susequent rows that would follow it. A predetermined army march in columns may be understood as each column is having a fixed and same number of soldiers etc.

Which part of the above mentioned piece of information was must to be given with the stem? Any suggestions?

In the question,it was not given which columns we are considering:-
1)Maximum Number of Columns of the newly added army contingent (Answer would be 2) OR
2)Maximum Number of Columns of 399 soldiers who were already present (Answer would be 57)OR
3)Maximum Number of Columns when we are considering(In this case,the answer will be 59)

Also, the question requires us to have the knowledge that the no. of people in each column would be same in both the cases 14 as well as 399.(I hope this is what the question means to imply)
So,maybe the sentence framing could have been more specific.

Anyways,what's the OA??

[sanju09]

harsh.champ wrote:

In the question,it was not given which columns we are considering:-

If it is said that a body A is to follow another body B, then which body is considered and which one is NOT?

1)Maximum Number of Columns of the newly added army contingent (Answer would be 2)

How?

OR

2)Maximum Number of Columns of 399 soldiers who were already present (Answer would be 57)

How?

OR

3)Maximum Number of Columns when we are considering(In this case,the answer will be 59)

I can't ask for more...but HOW????????

Also, the question requires us to have the knowledge that the no. of people in each column would be same in both the cases 14 as well as 399.(I hope this is what the question means to imply)
So,maybe the sentence framing could have been more specific.

Anyways,what's the OA??

I have to tell that the OA is [spoiler]B[/spoiler]

[vijay_venky]

The army contingent could march in 7 columns (maximum)

14=2x7

The band of soldiers is 399=7x3x19

These could also be formed in to 7 columns. In the mathematical perspective I think this is asking about the GCD of 14 and 399, which is 7.

Hope this helps