Skip to Main Content

Source: Official Guide for GMAT Review 2016 Data Sufficiency ; #121

11

For any positive integer x, the 2-height of

For any positive integer x, the 2-height of x is defined to be the greatest nonnegative integer n such that 2^n is a factor of x. If k and m are positive integers, is the 2-height of k greater than the 2-height of m?

1 Explanation

1

Nathan Okorley

Can you explain this one via video please?

Aug 14, 2018 • Comment

Sam Kinsman

Hi Nathan,

Again, I'm not sure when we'll be creating a video explanation for this question. But I'm happy to give you a quick explanation!

First, note that what the question describes as 2-height is just the number of 2s in a positive integer x. In other words, take the prime factorization of a number x, and the number of 2s gives you the 2-height. For example, 40 = 2*2*2*5, so it's 2-height is 3.

The question says "is the 2-height of k greater than the 2-height of m?" In other words, it's asking us which number has a greater number of 2s in it: k or m.

Let's look at S1: k > m. This doesn't really help: k could have more or fewer 2s than m does. For example, if k = 7 and m = 6, then m has more 2s. But if k = 8 and m = 7, then k has more 2s. Insufficient.

Now S2: m/k is an even integer. So when m is divided by k, you get an integer. This means that if we take the prime factorization of m and k, we will find that m has all factors of k. And when we divide, the factors get cancelled out and we are left with an even integer. Since we are left with an even integer, we know that it contains a factor of 2, so m has at least one 2 more than k.

Since we know that m has at least one more 2 than k does, we know that the 2-height of m is more than the 2-height of k. So S2 is sufficient, and the answer is B.

Aug 17, 2018 • Reply

Add Your Explanation

You must have a Magoosh account in order to leave an explanation.

Learn More About Magoosh

Official GMAT Material

Official Guide for GMAT Review 2016

Official Guide for the GMAT 13th Ed.

Official Guide for the GMAT 2015 14th Ed.

Nova's GRE Prep

Official Guide for the GMAT 12th Ed.

Revised GRE PDF 2nd Ed.


Section 6.3 Data Sufficiency

Improve Your Score

Magoosh GMAT is an affordable online course for studying the GMAT.

Learn More About Magoosh

Share Post

Email

Facebook