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Dilshod
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All that is required is 12 strikes! I've reworded thw question to make it cleaer. Tell me what you think!
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kevincan
All that is required is 12 strikes! I've reworded thw question to make it cleaer. Tell me what you think!

IMO, it is still hard to get from the question that all that needed is 12 strikes. e.g., that one clock may show 12.00am while the other 12.00pm.

Why don't you add smth. like "all that requied is 12 strikes"?
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If a clock strikes 12, it could be noon or midnight!
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kevincan,
Quote:
If a clock strikes 12, it could be noon or midnight!
why not?

You've just said:
Quote:
All that is required is 12 strikes!
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OK,
can you PM me the answer(# of hours)?
Without it, it is still hard for me to clearly understnad what the question is asking for?
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Hi Kevin,
thanks for the PM.

Offtopic: i wonder, have you ever taken GMAT?
I just remebered that I got almost the same question on my Real exam(7th or 8th question) with slightly different numbers.
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Geertrude’s grandmother has two grandfather clocks. One loses 3 minutes every hour; in other words, it will show that 57 minutes have elapsed when in fact exactly one hour has gone by. The other gains 5 minutes every hour. Geetrude and her grandmother always open a bottle of champagne when the two clocks strike 12 at midnight on the same night. On all other nights, they open a bottle of apple cider. Last night, they opened a bottle of champagne. How many full weeks must go by before they can do so again?

(A) none (B) one (C) two (D) three (E) more than three


The next time the first clock will ring exactly at midnight is when it loses 24 hrs. Hence 3m = 24*60 => m = 24*20 hrs.

Similarly, the next time the second clock will ring at midnight is when it gains 24 hrs. Hence 5n = 24*60 => n = 24*12 hrs.

The next time the two clocks ring together is at the LCM of m and n = 24*4*3*5 = 24*60 hrs = 60 days (more than 3 weeks)

Answer (E)?

<phew> what a question!
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x=number of hours

19/20 * x must be divisible by 12

Hence X is a multiple of 20*12=240.

13/12 * x must be a multiple of 12 => x must be a multiple of 12*12=144.

LCM (144,240) = 720
x=720 (since 720 is divisible by 24, it is midnight, when the clock strikes).

[720:24=30 days > 3 weeks]

=> E.



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