Counting odds?

You are given two integers J J and K . K.

At most, how many of the following statements can be simultaneously true?

  • J + K J + K is an odd number.
  • J K J - K is an odd number.
  • J × K J \times K is an odd number.
  • J ÷ K J \div K is an odd number.
0 1 2 3 4

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4 solutions

Jam M
Nov 12, 2018

J + K J+K is odd only if J J and K K have opposite parity.

J K J-K is odd only if J J and K K have opposite parity.

J K JK is odd only if J J and K K are both odd.

J / K J/K is odd only if J J and K K have the same parity.

Hence, at most two of the four given statements can be true.

J / K J / K is only guaranteed to be odd if J J and K K are odd! If J J and K K are even, it can be both odd and even. 8 / 2 = 4 , 6 / 2 = 3 8 / 2 = 4, 6 / 2 = 3

Christian Helms - 2 years, 6 months ago

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It isn't guaranteed to be odd in this scenario. For instance, 1 / 3 = 1 3 1 / 3 = \frac13 which is a non-integer and so neither odd nor even.

Stewart Gordon - 2 years, 6 months ago

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Yes, it's true. But, the problem maker is asking the best scenario.

Aryan Sanghi - 2 years, 6 months ago

What if J:odd, K:even, J/K would be odd.

Hassan Farid - 2 years, 6 months ago

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That would a fraction

Kenny O. - 2 years, 6 months ago

I disagree with the last one. J/K is odd only if both J and K are odd.

If both are even J/K is even

Moaz Tabosh - 2 years, 6 months ago

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It can be true as 6/2=3

Aryan Sanghi - 2 years, 6 months ago

I disagree with the third. If J is 1 and K is 3, than 3 answers are correct.

Ricardo Croes - 2 years, 6 months ago

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By my calculation:

J + K = 4 J + K = 4 (even)

J K = 2 J - K = -2 (even)

J × K = 3 J \times K = 3 (odd)

J ÷ K = 1 3 J \div K = \frac13 (neither)

What values did you come up with?

Stewart Gordon - 2 years, 6 months ago

According to me.... The answer should have been 3... Because.... For example.... Let J be 10 & K be 3... Then J*K = 30 {even} J-K = 7 {odd} J + K = 13 {odd} J / K = 3.33... {odd}

Lakshya Tandon - 2 years, 4 months ago

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3.33... is not odd. It is a non-integer, therefore neither odd nor even.

Stewart Gordon - 2 years, 4 months ago
Stewart Gordon
Nov 11, 2018

Examples:

J = 4 , K = 2 J = 4, K = 2 gives 0 true statements.

J = 6 , K = 2 J = 6, K = 2 gives 1 true statement.

J = 2 , K = 1 J = 2, K = 1 gives 2 true statements.

J + K J + K is odd iff J K J - K is odd. Therefore, 3 or 4 true would require both these statements to be true. However, these first two statements require that J J is odd and K K is even or vice versa. Which would make J × K J \times K even. If J J is odd and K K is even, then J ÷ K J \div K is necessarily a non-integer. If J J is even and K K is odd, J ÷ K J \div K is either a non-integer or even. Hence both the last two statements are false. Therefore, we can't have 3 or 4 true statements.

There is only one correct response and that is '2'. It is a matter of English.

Dave Clarke - 2 years, 7 months ago

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The problem has changed since I solved it yesterday. Previously there was a set of checkboxes - basically "Which of these is a possible number of true statements in the list?". For some reason they've now been changed to radiobuttons, with the question simply asking for the maximum number that can be true.

Stewart Gordon - 2 years, 7 months ago

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Yes, we modified the problem because it seems like people were getting confused with the setup (only 9% correct), and using "most" caught the essence of the problem sufficiently (also, solve rate now up to 31%).

Jason Dyer Staff - 2 years, 7 months ago

What about if I take j=6 and K=3

Anurag Shukla - 2 years, 7 months ago

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6 + 3 = 9, 6 - 3 = 3 (both odd) 6 * 3 = 18, 6 / 3 = 2 (both even) so two out of the four are odd in that case.

Jason Dyer Staff - 2 years, 7 months ago

An integer (pronounced IN-tuh-jer) is a whole number (not a fractional number) that can be positive, negative, or zero. (grab from google) so if J =1 and K=0 would't all 4 work

gavin thomson - 2 years, 7 months ago

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1 * 0 = 0, an even number. 1 / 0 is an invalid operation and does not give a number at all.

So you just have the first two true, not the other two.

Jason Dyer Staff - 2 years, 7 months ago

All it says is that the first two numbers are integers. couldn't you use 1 and 2 which would give 3, -1, and .5? That is three solutions

Jacob Jackson [STUDENT] - 2 years, 6 months ago

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If you use J = 1 J = 1 and K = 2 K = 2 , then the values are 3 3 , 1 -1 , 2 2 and 1 2 \frac12 . Only the first two of these are odd. A non-integer is neither odd nor even.

Stewart Gordon - 2 years, 6 months ago

3,2 3-2=1 3+2=1 3*2=6 3/2 gives 1.5 that considers (odd)? Thats 3 answers

Gas Las - 2 years, 4 months ago

If J and K are both even, all sums can be even -> 0

If J and K are both even, J/K can be odd (e.g. 6/2) -> 1

If J is even and K is odd (or vice versa), J + K and J - K are odd, but J*K and J/K are even (or non-integer) -> 2 is possible, but 3 or 4 are not

I might be misunderstanding the question but... Even/even can produce an odd number when one is divided by the other. Even/odd can produce an odd sum or subtraction. Odd/odd produces an odd number on multiplication. So for all pairs of numbers at least one of the items CAN be true. In which case 0 is not a valid answer

Chris Anderson - 2 years, 7 months ago

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It CAN be the case that 0 are true: Use 8 and 2 for example. Results in 10, 6, 16, 4

Jeremy Galvagni - 2 years, 7 months ago

The question is subject to misinterpretation because it does not specify that you need to have the same J & K values for all the conditions. If we change the values for each, all 4 are possible.

Mohammed Lokhandwala - 2 years, 7 months ago

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Yes you are right

Mr. India - 2 years, 7 months ago

I fully agree that the question is worded poorly

Stefaan Lippens - 2 years, 7 months ago

what ... why would you do that :I ...

Marina Longnickel - 2 years, 6 months ago

For me ÷ stand for integer divison , that is a % b = (a - (a mod b))/b A / stands for division. So please rephrase the 3rd line and write that "is integer and odd" and add that / is the"real" division and not integer division.

Zsolt Fekete - 2 years, 7 months ago

The question has been changed! Maurice's solution was a (correct) answer to a PREVIOUS version of the question, namely: which answerS are possible (multiple answers could be checked, in this version!)

Yvonne Killian - 2 years, 7 months ago
Atmadeep Arya
Nov 17, 2018

Assume one of them is of the form 2n and other is of 2m+1. So adding or subtracting them would give us a dangling (extra) 1. Multiplying them gives a number 2n(m+1) which is always even. And dividing them doesn't give us an integer.

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