Hi All,
This prompt is built on a few Number Properties, so you can actually solve it with a bit of 'brute force' math (without the need of any lengthy equations or calculations:
We're given a few facts to work with:
1) The SUM of 3 integers is 40
2) The largest integer = 3(middle integer)
3) The largest integers = 23 + smallest integer
We're asked for the PRODUCT of the three integers.
First, notice how all 3 answers are POSITIVE, that means that our 3 integers are likely all positive. From the given information, we can see that the largest integer will be considerably bigger than each of the other two.
From the first fact, we know that the largest integer is 3 TIMES the middle integer, so the largest integer MUST be a multiple of 3. Here, we can start brute-forcing the work by 'playing around' with multiples of 3...
IF...
the largest number is 21, then the other two numbers are 7 and -2; the sum is 26, which is TOO LOW. Let's try something bigger....
IF....
the largest number is 24, then the other two numbers are 8 and 1; the sum is 33, which is TOO LOW. We have to go bigger...
IF....
the largest number is 27, then the other two numbers are 9 and 4; the sum IS 40, so these MUST be the 3 numbers
The answer to the question will be the product of 27, 9 and 4. You can organize this math in variety of ways, but you might find it easiest to look at it this way....
(27x4)(9) = (108)(9) --> something MORE than 900 but LESS than 1,000. You might also notice that since one of the numbers is 9, the product MUST be a multiple of 9 (and there's only one answer that fit's THAT description).
Final Answer:
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich