GMAT Question of the Day - Daily to your Mailbox; hard ones only

 It is currently 16 Feb 2019, 09:58

GMAT Club Daily Prep

Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Events & Promotions

Events & Promotions in February
PrevNext
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
272829303112
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
242526272812
Open Detailed Calendar
• Free GMAT Algebra Webinar

February 17, 2019

February 17, 2019

07:00 AM PST

09:00 AM PST

Attend this Free Algebra Webinar and learn how to master Inequalities and Absolute Value problems on GMAT.
• Free GMAT Strategy Webinar

February 16, 2019

February 16, 2019

07:00 AM PST

09:00 AM PST

Aiming to score 760+? Attend this FREE session to learn how to Define your GMAT Strategy, Create your Study Plan and Master the Core Skills to excel on the GMAT.

There are 8 teams in a certain league and each team plays each of the

Author Message
Intern
Joined: 23 Aug 2009
Posts: 16
There are 8 teams in a certain league and each team plays each of the  [#permalink]

Show Tags

Updated on: 05 Feb 2015, 03:13
2
2
00:00

Difficulty:

15% (low)

Question Stats:

82% (00:34) correct 18% (00:32) wrong based on 216 sessions

HideShow timer Statistics

There are 8 teams in a certain league and each team plays each of the other teams exactly once. If each game is played by 2 teams, what is the total number of games played?

A. 15
B. 16
C. 28
D. 56
E. 64

OPEN DISCUSSION OF THIS QUESTION IS HERE: there-are-8-teams-in-a-certain-league-and-each-team-plays-134582.html

_________________

Peace

Originally posted by ro86 on 03 Dec 2009, 00:07.
Last edited by Bunuel on 05 Feb 2015, 03:13, edited 1 time in total.
Renamed the topic, edited the question and added the OA.
Director
Joined: 04 Jan 2008
Posts: 736
Re: There are 8 teams in a certain league and each team plays each of the  [#permalink]

Show Tags

03 Dec 2009, 06:35
its 8C2
that means
[(Factorial 8)] / [ (Factorial 2)(Factorial 6) ]
ro86 wrote:
There are 8 teams in a certain league and each team plays each of the other teams exactly once. if each game is played by 2 teams, what is the total number of games played?

1.15
2.16
3.28
4.56

OA is 28

I am not able to understand the explanation given to me in the OG.
The OG has calculated the answer as (8x7)/2.
has the og used some formula to arrive at the answer.

Tho i got the answer through manual counting. can any 1 explain the process used in the OG.

_________________

http://gmatclub.com/forum/math-polygons-87336.html
http://gmatclub.com/forum/competition-for-the-best-gmat-error-log-template-86232.html

Manager
Joined: 09 May 2009
Posts: 178
Re: There are 8 teams in a certain league and each team plays each of the  [#permalink]

Show Tags

03 Dec 2009, 06:49
ro86 wrote:
There are 8 teams in a certain league and each team plays each of the other teams exactly once. if each game is played by 2 teams, what is the total number of games played?

1.15
2.16
3.28
4.56

OA is 28

I am not able to understand the explanation given to me in the OG.
The OG has calculated the answer as (8x7)/2.
has the og used some formula to arrive at the answer.

Tho i got the answer through manual counting. can any 1 explain the process used in the OG.

this is nothing but application of direct formulae i.e combination ( if one is aware of this)
the formula is if we are asked to select r items out of n items then we can say nCr=n!/[(n-r)!*(n!)]
now in this q to play a match we need 2(r) teams out of 8(n) teams substituting
we get 8!/[2!*6!]=8*7*6!/[2!*6!]=8*7/2=28
HTH
_________________

GMAT is not a game for losers , and the moment u decide to appear for it u are no more a loser........ITS A BRAIN GAME

Manager
Joined: 04 Nov 2009
Posts: 64
WE 1: Research
WE 2: Corporate Strat
Re: There are 8 teams in a certain league and each team plays each of the  [#permalink]

Show Tags

03 Dec 2009, 06:54
2
This is just applying the idea of choosing combinations i.e. in how many ways can you choose 2 teams from a total 8. You can readily apply the formula for choosing 2 out of 8 as $$= (8x7)/2 = 28$$

The explanation would be something like:
Essentially, we need to find all possible pairs of teams from the 8.

So to create a pair, the first team can be chosen from the total of 8 - so 8 options/ways available. Now for each of this, we can choose the the opponent team for the pair from the 7 teams left. So the total will be $$8 x 7 = 56.$$

Now you can see that when we do the above, we will all possible pairs - (team1, team2), (team2, team3)....etc. We will also get the reverse pair (team2, team1), (team3, team2).... The order shouldn't matter since a game is just between 2 teams irrespective of the order.

So for every such pair of team, the reverse order is also included in the total of 56. So the total number of unique pairs we can have (which is the number of games) $$= 56/2 = 28$$.
Intern
Joined: 23 Aug 2009
Posts: 16
Re: There are 8 teams in a certain league and each team plays each of the  [#permalink]

Show Tags

03 Dec 2009, 11:02
Adding to the same question if each team plays twice with the other team then the answer would be 8*7=56 games.

Suppose the question states that a game is played by three teams, then will the total no of games played be (8*7*6)/(3*2*1).

Please correct me if i am wrong.
_________________

Peace

Intern
Joined: 29 Jun 2011
Posts: 25
Re: There are 8 teams in a certain league and each team plays each of the  [#permalink]

Show Tags

24 Jul 2011, 01:03
I was so confused by this line "If each game is played by 2 teams, what is the total number of games played?

I got 28 (coz 7!) then when I see this line "If each game is played by 2 teams, what is the total number
of games played?" I took one extra step to divide 28/2 = 14......although 14 is not a choice but I wonder can ayone pls explain what does this line mean?
Intern
Joined: 18 Jul 2011
Posts: 43
Re: There are 8 teams in a certain league and each team plays each of the  [#permalink]

Show Tags

25 Jul 2011, 09:05
2
You can use combinations or you can do the following (note that this often comes up as something called "the handshake problem" as well as in counting the number of diagonals in convex polygons).

Team 1: plays 7 other teams - 7 games
Team 2: plays 7 other teams, but you already counted their game against team 1 - 6 games
Team 3: plays 7 other teams, but you already counted their games against teams 1 and 2 - 5 games
And so on

7 + 6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 28

If there are x people in a room, then for everyone to shake hands with everyone else exactly once there will be (x(x-1))/2 handshakes. Same method with the polygon problem.
Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Posts: 52902
Re: There are 8 teams in a certain league and each team plays each of the  [#permalink]

Show Tags

05 Feb 2015, 03:14
ro86 wrote:
There are 8 teams in a certain league and each team plays each of the other teams exactly once. If each game is played by 2 teams, what is the total number of games played?

A. 15
B. 16
C. 28
D. 56
E. 64

OPEN DISCUSSION OF THIS QUESTION IS HERE: there-are-8-teams-in-a-certain-league-and-each-team-plays-134582.html

The total # of games played would be equal to the # of different pairs possible from 8 teams, which is $$C^2_{8}=28$$.

_________________
Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Posts: 52902
Re: There are 8 teams in a certain league and each team plays each of the  [#permalink]

Show Tags

05 Feb 2015, 03:14
Non-Human User
Joined: 09 Sep 2013
Posts: 9835
Re: There are 8 teams in a certain league and each team plays each of the  [#permalink]

Show Tags

31 Jan 2019, 20:47
Hello from the GMAT Club BumpBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.
_________________
Re: There are 8 teams in a certain league and each team plays each of the   [#permalink] 31 Jan 2019, 20:47
Display posts from previous: Sort by