Answer to GMAT Question #9

Answer and Explanation to GMAT Question #9

Here is the answer to GMAT Practice Question #9

Answer: B

Explanation:
Using the information in Statement (1), x/y can be either a terminating decimal or a non-terminating decimal:

See Figure 1

Therefore, the information in Statement (1) alone is not sufficient to answer the question.

If the denominator is 8, we know that the decimal portion of any dividend will be 0, .125, .25, .375, .5, .625, .75, or .875, all of which are terminating decimals. Therefore, the information in Statement (2) alone is sufficient to answer the question.

In general, a great GMAT tip is to note that denominators with non-terminating factors will ALWAYS be non-terminating. In practice, that means that a fraction with a 12 in the denominator will be a non-terminating decimal because a factor of 12 is 3. Conversely, a fraction with 16 in the denominator will definitely terminate because all of its factors are numbers that, by themselves would yield a terminating decimal. That’s not relevant for this problem necessarily, but it’s great to know.

The answer and explanation to GMAT Practice Question #9 was written by Integrated Learning, a company that provides professional and private one on one tutoring services.