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The official explanation is as follows (excepted):

"Since the supermarket sells apples in bundles of 4, we can represent the number of apples that Susie buys from the supermarket as 4x, where x can be any integer ≥ 0. If the number of apples that Susie buys from the convenience store is simply y, the total number of apples she buys is (4x + y). We are asked to find the smallest possible value of y such that (4x + y) can be a multiple of 5.

. . .

The correct answer is A."

My biggest problem is the wording of the question. The question asks for minimum number of applies she must buy to ENSURE that the total number at the end of the day is a multiple of 5. The explanation, however, speaks of the minimum number of applies that need to be bought at the convenience store so that she CAN end up with a multiple of five apples. CAN and ENSURE mean very different things, so I'm not sure why A is correct.
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I will go with option A.

The total no.of apples must be a multiple of 5.

supermarket stores sells apples in multiples of 4.If she buys 5 bundles this will in turn become a multiple of 5.

I will go with option A)0
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slingfox

My biggest problem is the wording of the question. The question asks for minimum number of applies she must buy to ENSURE that the total number at the end of the day is a multiple of 5. The explanation, however, speaks of the minimum number of applies that need to be bought at the convenience store so that she CAN end up with a multiple of five apples. CAN and ENSURE mean very different things, so I'm not sure why A is correct.

Look at it this way: I want to ensure that I have 3 chocolate bars. store A only sells 2 at a time so I need to buy 1 from store B so that I can end up with 3 chocolate bars.
It just means that this is what I must do/need to do/must ensure so that I can make it a possibility. Don't worry too much about it.
And it seems the question is simply testing whether you understand that 0 is the smallest non negative multiple of 5. If you buy 0 apples, you buy none from anywhere! It would have been different if it was given that she must buy some apples.
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answer is A since some of the numbers divisible by 4 will also be divisible by 5, for ex-20.

Hence at minimal, 0 apples need to be bought unbundled.
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I knw question is asking minimum so its 0..

But just asking is 1 not a multiplt of 5? as i heard that 1 is multiple of every number?
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I knw question is asking minimum so its 0..

But just asking is 1 not a multiplt of 5? as i heard that 1 is multiple of every number?

No. 0 is multiple of every integer. 1 is not. e.g. 1 is not a multiple of 5. Can you multiply 5 by another integer to get 1? No.
1 is a factor/divisor of every integer i.e. every integer is divisible by 1.
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Quote:

Susie can buy apples from two stores: a supermarket that sells apples only in bundles of 4, and a convenience store that sells single, unbundled apples. If Susie wants to ensure that the total number of apples she buys is a multiple of 5, what is the minimum number of apples she must buy from the convenience store?

A. 0
B. 1
C. 2
D. 3
E. 4

The key to solving this problem is to focus on the word minimum. If Susie were to buy 5 bags of apples at the grocery store she would have a total of 20 apples. In that case she wouldn’t need to purchase any apples from the convenience store. Thus, 0 is the minimum number of apples she must buy from the convenience store.

Answer: A
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slingfox

My biggest problem is the wording of the question. The question asks for minimum number of applies she must buy to ENSURE that the total number at the end of the day is a multiple of 5. The explanation, however, speaks of the minimum number of applies that need to be bought at the convenience store so that she CAN end up with a multiple of five apples. CAN and ENSURE mean very different things, so I'm not sure why A is correct.

Look at it this way: I want to ensure that I have 3 chocolate bars. store A only sells 2 at a time so I need to buy 1 from store B so that I can end up with 3 chocolate bars.
It just means that this is what I must do/need to do/must ensure so that I can make it a possibility. Don't worry too much about it.
And it seems the question is simply testing whether you understand that 0 is the smallest non negative multiple of 5. If you buy 0 apples, you buy none from anywhere! It would have been different if it was given that she must buy some apples.

KarishmaB, Great explanation.
One more confusion: question asked what is the minimum number of apples she must buy from the convenience store? Could you clarify how can 0 be minumum number and you can't buy 0 apple? Beside question state that she must buy? Not sure where's my thinking gone wrong as I got 1 as answer choice?

Thanks for your time in advanced.
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slingfox

My biggest problem is the wording of the question. The question asks for minimum number of applies she must buy to ENSURE that the total number at the end of the day is a multiple of 5. The explanation, however, speaks of the minimum number of applies that need to be bought at the convenience store so that she CAN end up with a multiple of five apples. CAN and ENSURE mean very different things, so I'm not sure why A is correct.

Look at it this way: I want to ensure that I have 3 chocolate bars. store A only sells 2 at a time so I need to buy 1 from store B so that I can end up with 3 chocolate bars.
It just means that this is what I must do/need to do/must ensure so that I can make it a possibility. Don't worry too much about it.
And it seems the question is simply testing whether you understand that 0 is the smallest non negative multiple of 5. If you buy 0 apples, you buy none from anywhere! It would have been different if it was given that she must buy some apples.

KarishmaB, Great explanation.
One more confusion: question asked what is the minimum number of apples she must buy from the convenience store? Could you clarify how can 0 be minumum number and you can't buy 0 apple? Beside question state that she must buy? Not sure where's my thinking gone wrong as I got 1 as answer choice?

Thanks for your time in advanced.

If I tell you, "Get n apples from the supermarket," what value can n take? Any non negative value. n could be 0 too.
If I say that you must buy some apples from the supermarket (some means at least 1) and the number of apples that you must buy is n, now n can be any positive integer (1, 2, 3, ... etc).

The question will clarify whether n = 0 is allowed or not, don't worry.
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Get it thanks KarishmaB for your great explanation as always.
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Susie can buy apples from two stores: a supermarket that sells apples only in bundles of 4, and a convenience store that sells single, unbundled apples. If Susie wants to ensure that the total number of apples she buys is a multiple of 5, what is the minimum number of apples she must buy from the convenience store?

Suppose Susie buys apples from the supermarket in 5 bundles i.e. total number of apples = 5x4=20 then if she does not buy apples from the convenience store then also it is ensured that the total number of apples she buys is a multiple of 5.

Hence A
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