Integer Properties - DS

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Integer Properties - DS

by achal46 » Tue Jul 03, 2012 7:10 am
If j and k are positive integers, what is the remainder when 8 * (10^k) + j is divided by 9?
(1) k = 13
(2) j = 1

As per my understanding -

If k=13, then the remainder is j
If j=1, then remainder is 0 always

In either case the remainder is known (j or 0), so shouldn't the answer be 'Both are independently sufficient'??
Source: — Data Sufficiency |

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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Tue Jul 03, 2012 7:23 am
achal46 wrote:If j and k are positive integers, what is the remainder when 8 * (10^k) + j is divided by 9?
(1) k = 13
(2) j = 1

As per my understanding -

If k=13, then the remainder is j
If j=1, then remainder is 0 always

In either case the remainder is known (j or 0), so shouldn't the answer be 'Both are independently sufficient'??
Target question: What is the remainder when 8 * (10^k) + j is divided by 9?

Statement 1 is not sufficient.
If k=13, there are different values of j that will change the remainder when the entire number is divided by 9. Some examples:
case 1) k=13 and j=1: The remainder when 8*(10^k)+j is divided by 9 is 0
case 2) k=13 and j=2: The remainder when 8*(10^k)+j is divided by 9 is 1
Since we get conflicting answers to our target question, statement 1 is not sufficient.

Statement 2
To solve this question, we need to know a divisibility rule that says "If a number x is such that the sum of its digits is divisible by 9, then the original number, x, is divisible by 9"

Take 1000000320048 for example. It would take a while to determine whether this number is divisible by 9. However, we can use the rule. The sum of the digits is 18, and 18 is divisible by 9. So, we can conclude that 1000000320048 is divisible by 9.

Back to the original question. We know that 8 x 10^k will be an 8 followed by several 0's

If j=1 [from statement (2)], then 8 * 10^k + j will be 8 followed by several 0's and then 1 (e.g., 80000001 or 800000000000000001)
We can see that the sum of the digits will always equal 9, so this number will be divisible by 9.
As such, the remainder will always equal 0.
This tells us that statement 2 is sufficient.

Answer = B

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Brent
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by GMATGuruNY » Tue Jul 03, 2012 8:30 am
achal46 wrote:If j and k are positive integers, what is the remainder when 8 * (10^k) + j is divided by 9?
(1) k = 13
(2) j = 1
A strategic approach that is especially viable if we're low on time:

The two statements combined clearly are sufficient.
Eliminate E.
C is WAY too obvious.
If the correct answer is C, the question isn't testing anything.
Eliminate C.
Statement 1 on its own is clearly INSUFFICIENT: without information about the units digit -- the value of j -- we cannot determine the remainder.
Eliminate A and D.

The correct answer must be B.
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by achal46 » Tue Jul 03, 2012 9:49 am
So..if i understand it correctly, since in case 1) k depends on j, which is a variable, this statement alone is not sufficient! Right?! Thanks in advance.

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by achal46 » Tue Jul 03, 2012 9:50 am
So..if i understand it correctly, since in case 1) k depends on j, which is a variable, this statement alone is not sufficient! Right?! Thanks in advance.

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by GMATGuruNY » Tue Jul 03, 2012 9:55 am
achal46 wrote:So..if i understand it correctly, since in case 1) k depends on j, which is a variable, this statement alone is not sufficient! Right?! Thanks in advance.
Correct. By definition, a variable is just that: VARIABLE. For a statement to be sufficient, it must yield a definite answer -- one that CANNOT vary.
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