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Does positive integer b have a factor n such that 1 < n < b ?
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Author:  Bunuel [ 13 Mar 2020, 05:33 ]
Post subject:  Does positive integer b have a factor n such that 1 < n < b ?

Does positive integer b have a factor n such that 1 < n < b ?

(1) b = 2k, where k is an integer greater than 1.
(2) k is a factor of b, where k is an integer greater than 1.

Author:  GMATWhizTeam [ 13 Mar 2020, 06:04 ]
Post subject:  Re: Does positive integer b have a factor n such that 1 < n < b ?

Bunuel wrote:
Does positive integer b have a factor n such that 1 < n < b ?

(1) b = 2k, where k is an integer greater than 1.
(2) k is a factor of b, where k is an integer greater than 1.


Step 1: Analyze Question Stem


    • We need to find out if the positive integer b has a factor n that lie between 1 and b.
    • Now, there can be two scenarios:
      o Case 1: b has a factor that lies between 1 and b. This would mean that b is a composite number. For example: If b= 6 then b has factors 2 and 3 between 1 and 6.
      o Case 2: b does not have a factor between 1 and b. This would mean that b is a prime number. For example: b = 5 does not have any factor between 1 and 5.

So, the question is indirectly asking us to find out, if b is a composite number or a prime number?

Step 2: Analyze individual statements


Statement 1: b = 2k, where k is an integer greater than 1.
    • If k is an integer greater than 1.
      o Then b is an even number greater than 2.
         Which means b is definitely a composite number.
Hence, statement 1 is sufficient and we can eliminate answer options B, C, and E.

Statement 2: k is a factor of b, where k is an integer greater than 1.
    • If k is factor of b and k is an integer, greater than 1, then there can be 2 possibilities.
      o Case 1: Say b = 6
         Then k can be 2 or 3 or 6 and b is a composite number.
      o Case 2: Say b = 5
         Then k will be equal to 5 and b is a prime number.
Since, we are getting two different answers, statement 2 is not sufficient and the correct answer is Option A.

Author:  bumpbot [ 22 Nov 2022, 11:41 ]
Post subject:  Re: Does positive integer b have a factor n such that 1 < n < b ?

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