Carcass wrote:
a is a prime number
b is a positive factor of \(a − 1\)
Quantity A |
Quantity B |
\(a^2\) |
The product of b and the least non-prime integer greater than a |
This question has quite a few moving pieces.
Since the question involves prime numbers, I'll start by testing a = 2, since the GRE loves to test the fact that 2 is the only even prime number.
case i: a = 2, which means
a - 1 = 2 - 1 =
1Since b is a positive factor of
a − 1, we now know that b is a positive factor of
1.
So, b MUST equal
1We get:
QUANTITY A: a² = 2² = 4
QUANTITY B: The product of b and the least non-prime integer greater than a = (
1)(4) = 4
In this case,
the two quantities are equalcase ii: a = 7, which means
a - 1 = 7 - 1 =
6Since b is a positive factor of
a − 1, we now know that b is a positive factor of
6.
So, b COULD equal
6We get:
QUANTITY A: a² = 7² = 49
QUANTITY B: The product of b and the least non-prime integer greater than a = (
6)(8) = 48
In this case,
Quantity A is greaterAnswer: D
Cheers,
Brent