Official Guide
For every even positive integer \(m\), \(f(m)\) represents the product of all even integers from 2 to m, inclusive. For example, \(f(12)=2*4*6*8*10*12\). What is the greatest prime factor of \(f(24)\)?
A. 23
B. 19
C. 17
D. 13
E. 11
OA E
For every even positive integer m, f(m) represents the
This topic has expert replies
GMAT/MBA Expert
- Brent@GMATPrepNow
- GMAT Instructor
- Posts: 16207
- Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pm
- Location: Vancouver, BC
- Thanked: 5254 times
- Followed by:1268 members
- GMAT Score:770
f(24) = 2 x 4 x 6 x 8 x 10 x 12 x 14 x 16 x 18 x 20 x 22 x 24AAPL wrote:Official Guide
For every even positive integer \(m\), \(f(m)\) represents the product of all even integers from 2 to m, inclusive. For example, \(f(12)=2*4*6*8*10*12\). What is the greatest prime factor of \(f(24)\)?
A. 23
B. 19
C. 17
D. 13
E. 11
OA E
Rewrite as prime factorization: f(24) = 2 x (2)(2) x (2)(3) x (2)(2)(2) x (2)(5) x (2)(2)(3) x (2)(7) x (2)(2)(2)(2) x (2)(3)(3) x (2)(2)(5) x (2)(11) x (2)(2)(2)(3)
Answer: E
ASIDE: As you can see from the answer choice, I really didn't need to find the prime factorization of EVERY value.
Cheers,
Brent
GMAT/MBA Expert
- Scott@TargetTestPrep
- GMAT Instructor
- Posts: 7280
- Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:56 am
- Location: Los Angeles, CA
- Thanked: 43 times
- Followed by:29 members
We are given that for every even positive integer m, f(m) represents the product of all even integers from 2 to m, inclusive.AAPL wrote:Official Guide
For every even positive integer \(m\), \(f(m)\) represents the product of all even integers from 2 to m, inclusive. For example, \(f(12)=2*4*6*8*10*12\). What is the greatest prime factor of \(f(24)\)?
A. 23
B. 19
C. 17
D. 13
E. 11
OA E
Thus, f(24) = 2 x 4 x 6 x 8 x 10 x 12 x 14 x 16 x 18 x 20 x 22 x 24.
If we were to break each value into primes, we would see that the greatest prime factor is contained in 22 (which equals 2 x 11).
Thus, the largest prime factor in f(24) is 11.
Answer: E
Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder and CEO
[email protected]
See why Target Test Prep is rated 5 out of 5 stars on BEAT the GMAT. Read our reviews