Bunuel
If X, Y, Z, and W are integers, X - Y - Z is even, Y - Z - W is odd and X is even, then which if the following must be true?
A. Y-Z must be odd.
B. W must be even.
C. W must be odd.
D. W must be even.
E. Z must be odd
X, Y, Z, and W are integers. The expression X-Y-Z is even and the Expression Y-Z-W is odd. If X is even what must be true?
A. Y-Z must be odd.
B. W must be even.
C. W must be odd.
D. W must be even.
E. Z must be odd
Some basic math rules to make the problem easy:
a. Even + Even = Even
b. Odd + Odd = Even
c. Even + Odd = Odd
d. Odd + Even = Odd
Remember that in addition or subtraction of two numbers,
the output is EVEN only if both the numbers are even or if both the numbers are oddTaking the given equation:
X - Y - Z is even. This equation can be re-written as:
X - (Y + Z) is even
Since we know that
x is even and also from the basic math rules discussed above, for addition of two quantities to be even when one of the quantity is even, the other quantity must also be even.
so here, Y + Z must also be even. This means,
Y and Z are even
ORY and Z are odd
Now lets move on to the other given equation:
Y - Z - W is odd
Since we have two possibilities of even/odd for Y and Z from the first equation, we will substitute both in this equation.
if both Y and Z are even, then in this equation,
Even(Y) - Even(Z) - W is odd.
Even - W is ODD.
Therefore from the basics,
W must be odd.
Now, if both Y and Z are odd, then in this equation,
Odd(Y) - Odd(Z) - W is Odd
Even - W is odd
Therefore
W must be oddSo from the given information it is true that
W MUST BE ODD.
The answer is
C