If the product of 6 integers is negative, at most how many of the inte

Question

1. If the product of 6 integers is negative, at most how many of the integers can be negative?

A. 2 
B. 3 
C. 4 
D. 5 
E. 6

uday1409 · Answer

product of even number of -ve numbers is positive so it cant be 6 .
So ans D

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi All,

The Number Property that uday1409 is talking about can be proven by TESTing Values:

We're told that the product of 6 numbers is negative (the fact that they're integers is actually irrelevant). We're asked for the MAXIMUM number of those 6 that COULD be negative. We'll start with the largest and work our way down..

6 are negative: (-1)(-1)(-1)(-1)(-1)(-1) = + 1...which is NOT a negative product

5 are negative: (-1)(-1)(-1)(-1)(-1)(+1) = -1...which IS a negative product

Final Answer:  D

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

ronny123 · Answer

The product of 6 integers is negative
Thus an odd number of integers need to be negative to have a negative product
We are asked at most how many are required.
So, the highest odd integer before 6,i.e. 5

Correct Option : D

Abhishek009 · Answer

Positive * Positive = Positive
Positive * Negative = Negative

Here in this question , if there are 5 negative numbers, result will be negative

Further Negative * Positive = Negative, so there can be maximum of 5 negative numbers, Answer must be (D)

JeffTargetTestPrep · Answer

The general rule is that, in order to have a negative product, we must have an odd number of negative factors. Since we have 6 total integers and a negative product, we can have 1, 3, or 5 negative integers. Thus, we can have at most 5 negative integers to yield a negative product.

Answer: D

kapstone1996 · Answer

First, have to be sure to not overlook the wording "at most", which means the maximum. Since, it is a negative result, it must be an odd number. Can eliminate a,c,e,(even) and then 5 > 3, so your choice is D.

Again, the biggest thing is to not overlook the wording. Can be moving too fast and would choose E (6) .

No math needed.

Again, the biggest thing is to not overlook the wording. Can be moving too fast and would choose E (6) .

No math needed.

bumpbot · Answer

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If the product of 6 integers is negative, at most how many of the inte

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If the product of 6 integers is negative, at most how many of the inte

Prep Toolkit

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