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Question

A question is given followed by two Statements I and II. Consider the Question and the Statements and mark the correct option.

Question:
What is the smallest 1-digit number having exactly 4 distinct factors?

Statement I: 2 is one of the factors.
Statement II: 3 is one of the factors.

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above Question and the Statements?

The correct answer is

The Question can be answered even without using any of the Statements.

Finding the Smallest 1-Digit Number with Exactly 4 Distinct Factors

The question asks us to find the smallest 1-digit number that has exactly 4 distinct factors. We are also given two statements about this number and asked which statement(s) are needed to answer the question.

Analyzing the Question

First, let's understand what a 1-digit number is. These are the integers from 1 to 9.

Next, we need to understand what distinct factors are. Factors of a number are integers that divide the number evenly. Distinct factors means counting each unique factor only once.

We need to find the 1-digit number that has precisely 4 distinct factors, and among those, identify the smallest one.

Finding Factors of 1-Digit Numbers

Let's list the 1-digit numbers and their factors:

Number Factors Number of Distinct Factors
1 {1} 1
2 {1, 2} 2
3 {1, 3} 2
4 {1, 2, 4} 3
5 {1, 5} 2
6 {1, 2, 3, 6} 4
7 {1, 7} 2
8 {1, 2, 4, 8} 4
9 {1, 3, 9} 3

Identifying Numbers with Exactly 4 Distinct Factors

From the table, the 1-digit numbers that have exactly 4 distinct factors are 6 and 8.

Finding the Smallest Number

We need the smallest of these numbers. Comparing 6 and 8, the smallest number is 6.

So, the smallest 1-digit number having exactly 4 distinct factors is 6.

We were able to determine this number (6) by simply analyzing the definition of 1-digit numbers and factors, without needing any additional information.

Analyzing the Statements

Now let's look at the statements:

  • Statement I: 2 is one of the factors. The number we found is 6. Factors of 6 are {1, 2, 3, 6}. 2 is indeed a factor of 6. If we only used Statement I, we would know the number has 4 factors and 2 is one of them. This could be 6 or 8 among 1-digit numbers with 4 factors. So Statement I alone is not sufficient to pinpoint 6.
  • Statement II: 3 is one of the factors. The number we found is 6. Factors of 6 are {1, 2, 3, 6}. 3 is indeed a factor of 6. If we only used Statement II, we would know the number has 4 factors and 3 is one of them. Among 1-digit numbers with 4 factors (6 and 8), only 6 has 3 as a factor. So Statement II alone *would* point to 6.

However, the core task was to find the smallest 1-digit number with exactly 4 distinct factors. We did this by systematically checking the numbers from 1 to 9, which revealed that 6 is the smallest such number. The statements provide properties of this number (6), but were not necessary to find the number itself based on the original criteria (smallest 1-digit number with exactly 4 factors).

Conclusion based on Statements

Since we could find the number (6) directly from the question's criteria (smallest 1-digit number with exactly 4 distinct factors) without referring to Statement I or Statement II, the question can be answered even without using any of the statements.

Final Answer Derivation

By examining all 1-digit numbers and their factors, we identified that 6 is the smallest among them with exactly 4 distinct factors. This process did not require using Statement I or Statement II. Therefore, the question can be answered independently of the given statements.

Revision Table: Smallest 1-Digit Number Factors

Number Factors # Factors Exactly 4 Factors?
1 {1} 1 No
2 {1, 2} 2 No
3 {1, 3} 2 No
4 {1, 2, 4} 3 No
5 {1, 5} 2 No
6 {1, 2, 3, 6} 4 Yes
7 {1, 7} 2 No
8 {1, 2, 4, 8} 4 Yes
9 {1, 3, 9} 3 No

From the table, numbers 6 and 8 have exactly 4 factors. The smallest is 6.

Additional Information: Number of Factors

The number of factors a positive integer has is related to its prime factorization. If a number $\text{N}$ can be written as $\text{N} = \text{p}_1^{\text{a}_1} \times \text{p}_2^{\text{a}_2} \times \dots \times \text{p}_{\text{k}}^{\text{a}_{\text{k}}$, where $\text{p}_1, \text{p}_2, \dots, \text{p}_{\text{k}}$ are distinct prime numbers and $\text{a}_1, \text{a}_2, \dots, \text{a}_{\text{k}}$ are positive integers, then the total number of distinct factors of $\text{N}$ is given by the product of one more than each exponent:

Number of factors $= (\text{a}_1 + 1)(\text{a}_2 + 1)\dots(\text{a}_{\text{k}} + 1)$.

For example:

  • The number 6 has the prime factorization $2^1 \times 3^1$. The number of factors is $(1+1)(1+1) = 2 \times 2 = 4$.
  • The number 8 has the prime factorization $2^3$. The number of factors is $(3+1) = 4$.

This confirms that 6 and 8 are indeed 1-digit numbers with exactly 4 distinct factors.

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