XAT 2016 — QA & DI Question 19
Inequality Maximization / MinimizationEasy
a, b, c are integers, |a| ≠ |b| ≠ |c| and –10 ≤ a, b, c ≤ 10. What will be the maximum possible value of [abc – (a + b + c)]?
Answer & solution
- A
524
- B
693
731
- D
970
- E
None of the above
Solution
abc – (a + b + c) = a(bc – 1) – b – c .
It is clear that the expression would be maximum when b and c are negative and their modulus are maximum possible.
∴ b = –10 , c = –9.
Now a has to be positive and maximum possible. It has to be 8.
Hence the expression becomes equal to 731.
Hence, option (c).