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According to Bunuel \(18=2*3^2\)

I listed 14 3's
14 3's- 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

26 2's- 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 and so on

notice that 7 such combinations of 18 are possible.
so answer= \(18^7\)
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TomB
If N is the product of all positive integers less than 31, than what is the greatest integer k for which N/18^k is an integer?

A. 3
B. 6
C. 7
D. 14
E. 26

Responding to a pm:

Quote:

If 6^y is a factor of (10!)^2, What is the greatest possible value of y ?

The maximum powers of a prime number 3, in 10!: 103+1032=3+1=4103+1032=3+1=4 (take only quotients into account). So, we have that the maximum power of 3 in 10! is 4, thus maximum power of 3 in (10!)^2 will be 8: (34)2=38(34)2=38. As discussed 8 is the maximum power of 6 as well.

But the below question we are taking both the factors 2 and 3 .Please can you explain the differnece

If N is the product of all positive integers less than 31, than what is the greatest integer k for which N/18^k is an integer? we are factoring 18 as 2^2 and 3.

Given: n=30! Question: if 30!/18k=integer kmax=?

We should determine the highest power of 18 in 30!.

18=2∗3^2 so we should find the highest powers of 2 and 3 in 30!:

Highest power of 2 in 30!: 30/2+30/4+30/8+30/16=15+7+3+1=26, --> 2^26

Highest power of 3 in 30!: 30/3+30/9+30/27=10+3+1=14 --> 3^14

n=30!=2^26∗3^14∗ where p is the product of other multiples of 30! (other than 2 and 3) --> n=30!=(2∗3^2)^7∗2^19∗p--> so the highest power of 18 in 30! is 7

Both the methods are the same. In some cases, you need to work on more than one factor, in others you don't. Here is how we decide:

- If each factor appears only once in the number, you just need to find the number of times the largest factor appears. The largest factor will have the lowest exponent.
e.g. 6 (2*3), 10 (2*5), 30 (2*3*5) etc

- If the larger factor appears multiple times in the number, again you just need to find the number of times the largest factor appears.
e.g. 18 (2 * 3 *3), 50 (2 * 5 * 5) etc

- If the smaller factor appears more than the greater factor in the number, then you need to work on both factors.
e.g. 12 (2 * 2 * 3), 175 (5 * 5 * 7) etc
In this case, the smaller factor appears more often that the greater factor in the factorial but you actually need more of each smaller factor to make each number. So you don't know what will dominate.

For more on this, check out: https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/2011/06 ... actorials/
The post as well as the comments.
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here n=30!
now we have to find highest power of 18 in 30!. this is done in this way
18 = 2*3^2
so, we find the highest power of 2 and 3^2 in 30! individually

for 2

30/2 + 30/4 + 30/8 + 30/16
15+7+3+1
26

similarly for 3
30/3+ 30/9+30/27
10+3+1
14
so, there are 14/2= 7, power of 3^2 in 30!
so required answer is 7 as we need seven (3^2) and seven (2) to make their products as power of 18.
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TomB
If N is the product of all positive integers less than 31, than what is the greatest integer k for which N/18^k is an integer?

A. 3
B. 6
C. 7
D. 14
E. 26

We see that N = 30! and know that k is an integer.

N/18^k = N/[(2)(3^2)]^k = N/[(2^k)(3^2k)]

The expression above is an integer if k is not greater than the total number of 2s in the prime factored form of 30! and if 2k is not greater than the total number of 3s in the prime factored form of 30!

Since in the prime factored form of 30!, there are fewer 3s than 2s, we need to concentrate on the total number of 3s, which we can quickly determine with the following technique:

30/3 = 10

10/3 = 3 (ignore the remainder)

3/3 = 1

The total number of 3s is 10 + 3 + 1 = 14, so it must be true that:

2k ≤ 14

k ≤ 7

We see that the maximum value of integer k is 7.

Answer: C
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amitsah
here n=30!
now we have to find highest power of 18 in 30!. this is done in this way
18 = 2*3^2
so, we find the highest power of 2 and 3^2 in 30! individually

for 2

30/2 + 30/4 + 30/8 + 30/16
15+7+3+1
26

similarly for 3
30/3+ 30/9+30/27
10+3+1
14
so, there are 14/2= 7, power of 3^2 in 30!
so required answer is 7 as we need seven (3^2) and seven (2) to make their products as power of 18.
­I have a doubt here, what do we do with the 26 that we got? That's the number of 2's in the number right? Here we've divided only 14 by 2 to get the answer. Please help! 
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Akriti_Khetawat

amitsah
here n=30!
now we have to find highest power of 18 in 30!. this is done in this way
18 = 2*3^2
so, we find the highest power of 2 and 3^2 in 30! individually

for 2

30/2 + 30/4 + 30/8 + 30/16
15+7+3+1
26

similarly for 3
30/3+ 30/9+30/27
10+3+1
14
so, there are 14/2= 7, power of 3^2 in 30!
so required answer is 7 as we need seven (3^2) and seven (2) to make their products as power of 18.
­I have a doubt here, what do we do with the 26 that we got? That's the number of 2's in the number right? Here we've divided only 14 by 2 to get the answer. Please help! 
­
18 = 2*3^2.

30! has 2 to the power of 26 and 3 to the power of 14. However, we need 3^2, not simply 3, and 3^2 in 30! is to the power of 14/2 = 7.

Checke detailed explanation here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/if-n-is-the-product-of-all-positive-integers-less-than-103218.html#p803385
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