There are large number of silver coins weighing 2 gm, 5 gm, 10 gm, 25 gm, 50 gm each. Consider the following…
There are large number of silver coins weighing 2 gm, 5 gm, 10 gm, 25 gm, 50 gm each. Consider the following statements:
1. To buy 78 gm of coins one must buy at least 7 coins.
2. To weigh 78 gm using these coins one can use less than 7 coins.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2
Solution
Statement 1: To make exactly 78 gm using these denominations, the minimum number of coins required works out to 7. Statement 2: 'To weigh 78 gm' permits placing coins on both pans of a balance, so one can use fewer coins by balancing larger coins on the opposite pan. Hence statement 2 is also correct. Both statements are correct.