Starting with 1, positive integers are written one after the

Question

Starting with 1, positive integers are written one after the other. What is the 40,000th digit that will be written?

A. 4
B. 2
C. 1
D. 0 
E. 3

yezz · Answer

I CANT UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION , ARE U SURE OF THE WORDING?? OR IS IT ME :lol:

jylo · Answer

Do you mean if you to write very large number like this:

1234567901234567890.... to 40,000 in length, what would the 40,000th digit be???

Wouldn't it be 0? Or that would be too easy.

devilmirror · Answer

Here is the sample. 1 then 2 then 3 then 4 123456789 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19... keep writing and what is number in the 40,000th digit 8-)

terp26 · Answer

this is probably an 800 level question, i cant imagine anyone solving this in under 2 minutes

hobbit · Answer

the answer would be 1.... however i agree that this is not a GMAT question....

here is the trick:
there are 9 1-digit numbers
there are 90 2-digit numbers
there are 900 3-digit numbers
and 9000 4-digit numbers
writing them all gives us 38889 digits.
so the 38890th digit is 1 of the number 10000, the first 5 digit number.
from here on, for the next 10000 numbers (or 50000 digits), each 5th digit would be 1. so 1 is the 38890th digit and 38895th digit etc... and also the 40000th digit.

kevincan · Answer

1-9 -9 digits total
10-99 -180 digits total ( 2 for each of the 90 two-digit numbers)
100-999 - 2700 digits total (3 for each of the 900 3-digit numbers)

1000-9999 - 36,000 digits total (......)

Clearly, the number containing the 40,000th digit will be a five digit number

Up to 999, we have written 38889 digits
Since 40,000-38,889= 1,111 and 1,111/5 =222 with a remainder of 1, 

So, the 40,000th digit is the first digit in 10,222 i.e.  1 
A  tedious  solution- has anybody got another?

trivikram · Answer

you rule...........amazing solution hobbit :-D

Tuneman · Answer

they would never give this on the GMAT's would they?

Starting with 1, positive integers are written one after the

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards