Last visit was: 23 Apr 2026, 18:20 It is currently 23 Apr 2026, 18:20
Close
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
Your Progress

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
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
User avatar
Bunuel
User avatar
Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Last visit: 23 Apr 2026
Posts: 109,785
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 105,853
Products:
Expert
Expert reply
Active GMAT Club Expert! Tag them with @ followed by their username for a faster response.
Posts: 109,785
Kudos: 810,873
 [16]
Kudos
Add Kudos
16
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
Chethan92
Joined: 18 Jul 2018
Last visit: 21 Apr 2022
Posts: 901
Own Kudos:
1,509
 [1]
Given Kudos: 95
Location: India
Concentration: Operations, General Management
GMAT 1: 590 Q46 V25
GMAT 2: 690 Q49 V34
WE:Engineering (Energy)
Products:
GMAT 2: 690 Q49 V34
Posts: 901
Kudos: 1,509
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
avatar
APRToMBA
Joined: 02 Sep 2019
Last visit: 29 Aug 2020
Posts: 6
Own Kudos:
5
 [1]
Given Kudos: 2
Location: United States (IL)
GMAT 1: 740 Q48 V44
GPA: 2.9
GMAT 1: 740 Q48 V44
Posts: 6
Kudos: 5
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
nick1816
User avatar
Retired Moderator
Joined: 19 Oct 2018
Last visit: 12 Mar 2026
Posts: 1,841
Own Kudos:
8,509
 [3]
Given Kudos: 707
Location: India
Posts: 1,841
Kudos: 8,509
 [3]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
2
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
There are 3 possibilities-

1.
n=0 mod 9 or 9k

As n<2000
S(n) can be 9, 18 or 27

If S(n)= 9 , n= 1989(not possible)
If S(n)= 18, n= 1980
If S(n)= 27 , n= 1971(not possible)

2.
n=3 mod 9 or 9k+3

As n <2007
S(n)= 3, 12 or 21

If S(n)= 3 , n= 2001
If S(n)= 12, n= 1992 (not possible)
If S(n)= 21 , n= 1983

3.
n= 6 mod 9 or 9k+6

As n<2007
S(n)= 6, 15 or 24

If S(n)= 6 , n= 1995(not possible)
If S(n)= 15, n= 1986 (not possible)
If S(n)= 24 , n= 1977

Total 4 cases are possible






Bunuel

TOUGH QUESTION:



For each positive integer n, let S(n) denote the sum of the digits of n. For how many values of n is n + S(n) + S(S(n)) = 2007?

(A) 1
(B) 2
(C) 3
(D) 4
(E) 5
User avatar
nick1816
User avatar
Retired Moderator
Joined: 19 Oct 2018
Last visit: 12 Mar 2026
Posts: 1,841
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 707
Location: India
Posts: 1,841
Kudos: 8,509
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
You gotta check only 9 cases. n, S(n) or S(S(n) leaves same remainder when divided by 9. As their sum is a multiple of 9, only 3 remainders are possible, that is 3, 6 or 9.

APRToMBA
This is a little bit tricky. The best I could immediately come up was to bound it before brute forcing it.

Obviously n < 2007

It's a little less obvious to find the lower bound, but essentially I'm asking the question "how do you maximize S(n) for n < 2007". The answer to that is n=1999. For n = 1999, S(n) = 28 and S(S(n)) = 10. Therefore, our lower bound of n should be 2007 - 28 - 10 = 1969.

I then brute forced every number between 1969 and 2007 and found the following.

n = 1977, 1980, 1983, 2001
avatar
riyu44
Joined: 30 Sep 2019
Last visit: 30 Jul 2021
Posts: 10
Own Kudos:
5
 [1]
Given Kudos: 75
Posts: 10
Kudos: 5
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
sum of "n" number is given as n(n+1) / 2 . If we replace S(n) with n(n+1) /2 the equation will be of power n^4 . Hence there can be 4 value of n possible.
User avatar
bumpbot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 09 Sep 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 38,964
Own Kudos:
Posts: 38,964
Kudos: 1,117
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Automated notice from GMAT Club BumpBot:

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

This post was generated automatically.
Moderators:
Math Expert
109785 posts
Tuck School Moderator
853 posts