GMAT Exam  >  GMAT Questions  >  What is the maximum possible power of 4 in th... Start Learning for Free
What is the maximum possible power of 4 in the number that is obtained when the product of the first 15 positive integers is subtracted from the product of the first 20 positive integers?
  • a)
    0
  • b)
    3
  • c)
    5
  • d)
    7
  • e)
    8
Correct answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer?
Verified Answer
What is the maximum possible power of 4 in the number that is obtained...
Given
  • Product of first 15 positive integers = 1*2*3…….* 15 = 15!
     
  • Product of first 20 positive integers = 1*2*3*…….* 20 = 20!
    • So, we can write 20! = 15! * 16 * 17 * 18 * 19 * 20
To Find: Maximum power of 4 that divides (20! – 15!)
Approach
  1. We will first need to simplify the expression 20! – 15!
  1. We know that 20! = 15! * 16 * 17 * 18 * 19 * 20
  2. So, 20! – 15! = 15! (20*19*18….*16 – 1) = 15! * odd integer
    1. Since 20 *19*…..16 is even, and 1 is odd, 20*19*……16 -1 will be odd
  3. Therefore, we only need to find the maximum power of 4 that divides 15!
2. To find the maximum power of 4 in 15!, we will first need to find the maximum power of 2 in 15!, as 4 = 22
  1. Let’s take a simple example to understand how we can find this. Consider a number p = 1*2*3*4. We need to find the power of 2 in p.
  2. Now, powers of 2 will occur in multiples of 2. So, we should first find the multiples of 2 in p. They are 2 and 4. However all multiples of 2 will not contain only 21. Some of them may contain higher powers of 2. For example, here 4 contains 22.
  3. So, when we are finding multiples of 2, we should also find the multiples of higher powers of 2 in p.
  4.   Hence, 2 will occur 2 + 1 = 3 times in p.
3. We will use the same logic to find out the power of 2 in 15!
  1. Once we know the power of 2 in 15!, we can find the power of 4 in 15!
 
Working Out
View all questions of this test
Most Upvoted Answer
What is the maximum possible power of 4 in the number that is obtained...
To solve this problem, we need to find the maximum possible power of 4 in the difference between the product of the first 20 positive integers and the product of the first 15 positive integers.

Let's start by finding the product of the first 20 positive integers:
1 * 2 * 3 * ... * 18 * 19 * 20 = 2432902008176640000

Now let's find the product of the first 15 positive integers:
1 * 2 * 3 * ... * 13 * 14 * 15 = 1307674368000

To find the difference, we subtract the product of the first 15 positive integers from the product of the first 20 positive integers:
2432902008176640000 - 1307674368000 = 2432902006868972000

Now we need to find the maximum possible power of 4 in this difference. To do that, we need to find how many times we can divide the difference by 4 without getting a fraction.

Let's divide the difference by 4:
2432902006868972000 ÷ 4 = 608225501717243000

We can divide the result by 4 again:
608225501717243000 ÷ 4 = 152056375429310750

And once more:
152056375429310750 ÷ 4 = 38014093857327687.5

At this point, we can see that we have reached a fraction, so we can no longer divide by 4. Therefore, the maximum possible power of 4 in the difference is 3.

Therefore, the correct answer is option 'C', 5.
Attention GMAT Students!
To make sure you are not studying endlessly, EduRev has designed GMAT study material, with Structured Courses, Videos, & Test Series. Plus get personalized analysis, doubt solving and improvement plans to achieve a great score in GMAT.
Explore Courses for GMAT exam

Top Courses for GMAT

What is the maximum possible power of 4 in the number that is obtained when the product of the first 15 positive integers is subtracted from the product of the first 20 positive integers?a)0b)3c)5d)7e)8Correct answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer?
Question Description
What is the maximum possible power of 4 in the number that is obtained when the product of the first 15 positive integers is subtracted from the product of the first 20 positive integers?a)0b)3c)5d)7e)8Correct answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer? for GMAT 2024 is part of GMAT preparation. The Question and answers have been prepared according to the GMAT exam syllabus. Information about What is the maximum possible power of 4 in the number that is obtained when the product of the first 15 positive integers is subtracted from the product of the first 20 positive integers?a)0b)3c)5d)7e)8Correct answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer? covers all topics & solutions for GMAT 2024 Exam. Find important definitions, questions, meanings, examples, exercises and tests below for What is the maximum possible power of 4 in the number that is obtained when the product of the first 15 positive integers is subtracted from the product of the first 20 positive integers?a)0b)3c)5d)7e)8Correct answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer?.
Solutions for What is the maximum possible power of 4 in the number that is obtained when the product of the first 15 positive integers is subtracted from the product of the first 20 positive integers?a)0b)3c)5d)7e)8Correct answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer? in English & in Hindi are available as part of our courses for GMAT. Download more important topics, notes, lectures and mock test series for GMAT Exam by signing up for free.
Here you can find the meaning of What is the maximum possible power of 4 in the number that is obtained when the product of the first 15 positive integers is subtracted from the product of the first 20 positive integers?a)0b)3c)5d)7e)8Correct answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer? defined & explained in the simplest way possible. Besides giving the explanation of What is the maximum possible power of 4 in the number that is obtained when the product of the first 15 positive integers is subtracted from the product of the first 20 positive integers?a)0b)3c)5d)7e)8Correct answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer?, a detailed solution for What is the maximum possible power of 4 in the number that is obtained when the product of the first 15 positive integers is subtracted from the product of the first 20 positive integers?a)0b)3c)5d)7e)8Correct answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer? has been provided alongside types of What is the maximum possible power of 4 in the number that is obtained when the product of the first 15 positive integers is subtracted from the product of the first 20 positive integers?a)0b)3c)5d)7e)8Correct answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer? theory, EduRev gives you an ample number of questions to practice What is the maximum possible power of 4 in the number that is obtained when the product of the first 15 positive integers is subtracted from the product of the first 20 positive integers?a)0b)3c)5d)7e)8Correct answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer? tests, examples and also practice GMAT tests.
Explore Courses for GMAT exam

Top Courses for GMAT

Explore Courses
Signup for Free!
Signup to see your scores go up within 7 days! Learn & Practice with 1000+ FREE Notes, Videos & Tests.
10M+ students study on EduRev