Wednesday, September 29, 2010

if d is a positive integer and f is the product of the first 30 integers

if d is a positive integer and f is the product of the first 30 integers what is the value of d?

(1) 10^d is a factor of f
(2) d'>'6










here's all you have to do:
forget entirely about 10, 20, and 30, and ONLY THINK ABOUT PRIME FACTORIZATIONS.
(
TAKEAWAY: this is the way to go in general - when you break something down into primes, you should not think in hybrid terms like this. instead, just translate everything into the language of primes.)

each PAIR OF A '5' AND A '2' in the prime factorization translates into a '10'.

there are seven 5's: one each from 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30, and two from 25.

there are way more than seven 2's.

therefore, 30! can accommodate as many as seven 10's before you run out of fives.

--

statement 2 is clearly insufficient.

statement 1, by itself, means that d can be anything from 1 to 7 inclusive.

together, d must be 7.

ans (c)

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