It is currently Tue Feb 07, 2012 2:47 am




   Post new topic Reply to topic      [ 10 posts ]  Bookmark and Share Oldest Best Reply
Author Message
TAGS:
  Exponents [#permalink]
New postPosted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 10:45 am 
Offline
Intern
Intern

Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2008
Posts: 4
Followers: 0

Kudos (?): 0 (0), given: 0

         00:00        
I was flipping through the Gmat Math Bible and got to the exponents sections and can't figure out how to solve these exponent inequalties algabraeically. Can anyone please show me how because this concept shows up on hard data suff problems. THanks.

x^2 < x
x^3 > x
x^3 < x^2


  Profile  
 
Kaplan Promo CodeKnewton GMAT Discount CodesVeritas Prep GMAT Discount Codes
  Re: Exponents [#permalink]
New postPosted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 10:07 pm 
Offline
CEO
CEO
User avatar

Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2007
Posts: 3622
Concentration: Entrepreneurship, Other
Schools: Chicago (Booth) - Class of 2011
GMAT 1: 750 Q50 V40
Followers: 142

Kudos (?): 1036 (0), given: 285

GMAT ToolKit User GMAT Tests User
dslewis wrote:
I was flipping through the Gmat Math Bible and got to the exponents sections and can't figure out how to solve these exponent inequalties algabraeically. Can anyone please show me how because this concept shows up on hard data suff problems. THanks.

x^2 < x
x^3 > x
x^3 < x^2


1. x^2<x
1.1 for x>0: x^2<x --> x<1 --> x e (0,1)
1.2 for x<0: x^2<x --> x>1 --> no x
1.3. Therefore, x e (0,1)

2. x^3>x
2.1 for x>0: x^3>x --> x^2>1 --> x e (1,+∞)
2.2 for x<0: x^3>x --> x^2<1 --> x e (-1,0)
2.3. Therefore, x e (-1,0)&(1,+∞)

3. x^3<x^2
3.1 x<1 --> x e (-∞,1)
3.2. Therefore, x e (-∞,1)

_________________
iPhone/iPod/iPad: PrepGame - a fun way to supplement your books/course and improve your performance on the test day.
GMAT ToolKit - The bestselling GMAT prep app | GMAT Club (free) | MBA ToolKit (free) | GRE ToolKit | LSAT ToolKit

Math: GMAT Math Book ||| General: GMATTimer ||| Chicago Booth: Slide Presentation
Help many people. Do what's right. Pay back society


  Profile  
 
  Re: Exponents [#permalink]
New postPosted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 10:16 pm 
Offline
SVP
SVP

Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2005
Posts: 1974
Followers: 1

Kudos (?): 48 (0), given: 2

GMAT Tests User
walker, i have a question re: 2.2

x^2<1 .... practically, i know that only numbers btwn -1 and 0 will satisfy this, but if i were to just look at the statement, i would simplify it to that x < 1 ... ie. any number for x<1 will work.

whats the logic behind avoiding this trap ?


  Profile  
 
  Re: Exponents [#permalink]
New postPosted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 10:48 pm 
Offline
CEO
CEO
User avatar

Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2007
Posts: 3622
Concentration: Entrepreneurship, Other
Schools: Chicago (Booth) - Class of 2011
GMAT 1: 750 Q50 V40
Followers: 142

Kudos (?): 1036 (0), given: 285

GMAT ToolKit User GMAT Tests User
Pmenon, I saw that many people make mistakes in inequalities. I guess these advices can help:

1. pick very large and vary small numbers. It helps recognize mistakes faster.
2. use drawing. It is really helpful and makes a solution obvious. For example, x^2<1 ==> bottom part of the parabola y=x^2 limited by the horizontal line: y=1

_________________
iPhone/iPod/iPad: PrepGame - a fun way to supplement your books/course and improve your performance on the test day.
GMAT ToolKit - The bestselling GMAT prep app | GMAT Club (free) | MBA ToolKit (free) | GRE ToolKit | LSAT ToolKit

Math: GMAT Math Book ||| General: GMATTimer ||| Chicago Booth: Slide Presentation
Help many people. Do what's right. Pay back society


  Profile  
 
  Re: Exponents [#permalink]
New postPosted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 7:20 pm 
Offline
Intern
Intern

Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2008
Posts: 4
Followers: 0

Kudos (?): 0 (0), given: 0

yeah but verbally what is the rule cause I cannot see it in your illustration. It seems confusing and I've done these problems a millions different ways but just cant spot the rules.

I get confused because I'm not sure when its the upper limit or the lower limit or if its both. For example :
x^2<x
x<0 x<1
X>0 X>1
Answer: 0<x<1 Why though?

x^2>x
x>0 x>1
x<0 x<1
Answer: x<0 and x>1 why? If I knew the rule I could figure it out. I try all combo's but nothing seems to work.


  Profile  
 
  Re: Exponents [#permalink]
New postPosted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:32 pm 
Offline
CEO
CEO
User avatar

Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2007
Posts: 3622
Concentration: Entrepreneurship, Other
Schools: Chicago (Booth) - Class of 2011
GMAT 1: 750 Q50 V40
Followers: 142

Kudos (?): 1036 (0), given: 285

GMAT ToolKit User GMAT Tests User
The main rule is:

if we divide left and right sides of an inequality by a positive number, the sign of the inequality remains the same one.
if we divide left and right sides of an inequality by a negative number, the sign of the inequality changes.

Therefore, when we divide an inequality by x than can be both positive and negative, we have to consider two possibilities and also be careful with x=0.

Consider an example:

x^2>x

for x>0: x^2/x > x/x --> x>1. Therefore, x e (1,+∞)
for x<0: x^2/x < x/x --> x<1. Therefore, x e (-∞,0)
for x=0: x does not satisfy the inequality.

Join three findings: x e (-∞,0)&(1,+∞)

Consider other example:

x^2<x

for x>0: x^2/x < x/x --> x<1. Therefore, x e (0,1)
for x<0: x^2/x > x/x --> x>1. There is no x that satisfies the inequality.
for x=0: x does not satisfy the inequality.

Join three findings: x e (0,1)

_________________
iPhone/iPod/iPad: PrepGame - a fun way to supplement your books/course and improve your performance on the test day.
GMAT ToolKit - The bestselling GMAT prep app | GMAT Club (free) | MBA ToolKit (free) | GRE ToolKit | LSAT ToolKit

Math: GMAT Math Book ||| General: GMATTimer ||| Chicago Booth: Slide Presentation
Help many people. Do what's right. Pay back society


  Profile  
 
  Re: Exponents [#permalink]
New postPosted: Mon May 19, 2008 2:54 pm 
Offline
Manager
Manager

Joined: Fri May 11, 2007
Posts: 126
Followers: 1

Kudos (?): 9 (0), given: 0

walker wrote:
dslewis wrote:
I was flipping through the Gmat Math Bible and got to the exponents sections and can't figure out how to solve these exponent inequalties algabraeically. Can anyone please show me how because this concept shows up on hard data suff problems. THanks.

x^2 < x
x^3 > x
x^3 < x^2


1. x^2<x
1.1 for x>0: x^2<x --> x<1 --> x e (0,1)
1.2 for x<0: x^2<x --> x>1 --> no x
1.3. Therefore, x e (0,1)

2. x^3>x
2.1 for x>0: x^3>x --> x^2>1 --> x e (1,+∞)
2.2 for x<0: x^3>x --> x^2<1 --> x e (-1,0)
2.3. Therefore, x e (-1,0)&(1,+∞)

3. x^3<x^2
3.1 x<1 --> x e (-∞,1)
3.2. Therefore, x e (-∞,1)


I'm missing something here...I don't quite follow '3' above. Can someone elaborate further?


  Profile  
 
  Re: Exponents [#permalink]
New postPosted: Mon May 19, 2008 4:53 pm 
Offline
Intern
Intern

Joined: Sun May 18, 2008
Posts: 5
Followers: 0

Kudos (?): 1 (0), given: 0

GMAT Tests User
x^3 < x^2
Dividing both sides by x^2,
we get x<1 which means x takes any value from -infinity upto 1.


  Profile  
 
  Re: Exponents [#permalink]
New postPosted: Tue May 20, 2008 7:44 am 
Offline
Current Student

Joined: Tue Dec 28, 2004
Posts: 3932
Location: New York City
Schools: Wharton'11 HBS'12
Followers: 9

Kudos (?): 118 (0), given: 2

GMAT Tests User
walker wrote:
dslewis wrote:
I was flipping through the Gmat Math Bible and got to the exponents sections and can't figure out how to solve these exponent inequalties algabraeically. Can anyone please show me how because this concept shows up on hard data suff problems. THanks.

x^2 < x
x^3 > x
x^3 < x^2


1. x^2<x
1.1 for x>0: x^2<x --> x<1 --> x e (0,1)
1.2 for x<0: x^2<x --> x>1 --> no x
1.3. Therefore, x e (0,1)

2. x^3>x
2.1 for x>0: x^3>x --> x^2>1 --> x e (1,+∞)
2.2 for x<0: x^3>x --> x^2<1 --> x e (-1,0)
2.3. Therefore, x e (-1,0)&(1,+∞)

3. x^3<x^2
3.1 x<1 --> x e (-∞,1)
3.2. Therefore, x e (-∞,1)



x^3>x.. i think the range of this is x>-1

x^3<x^2 i think x<-1 but u have a -1<x<0 where this doesnt..


  Profile  
 
  Re: Exponents [#permalink]
New postPosted: Tue May 20, 2008 8:21 am 
Offline
CEO
CEO
User avatar

Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2007
Posts: 3622
Concentration: Entrepreneurship, Other
Schools: Chicago (Booth) - Class of 2011
GMAT 1: 750 Q50 V40
Followers: 142

Kudos (?): 1036 (0), given: 285

GMAT ToolKit User GMAT Tests User
fresinha12 wrote:
x^3>x.. i think the range of this is x>-1

for example, x=0.5 and 0.125>0.5 is not true

fresinha12 wrote:
x^3<x^2 i think x<-1 but u have a -1<x<0 where this doesnt..

for x<0 x^3 is negative and x^2 is positive, so x^3<x^2 is true for x<0
but I found my mistake here: should be x e (-∞,0)&(0,1) rather than x e (-∞,1)

_________________
iPhone/iPod/iPad: PrepGame - a fun way to supplement your books/course and improve your performance on the test day.
GMAT ToolKit - The bestselling GMAT prep app | GMAT Club (free) | MBA ToolKit (free) | GRE ToolKit | LSAT ToolKit

Math: GMAT Math Book ||| General: GMATTimer ||| Chicago Booth: Slide Presentation
Help many people. Do what's right. Pay back society


  Profile  
 
Online
gmatclubot
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  

GMAT Resources

Best GMAT Discussions

Quant 700-800 questions(PS+DS) with solutions by satishchandraaily51
Valuable Collection of Percentage Questions (PS/DS) by MBAhereIcome33
My comprehensive Quant Flashcards! by miguelmick20
50 tricky questions by ykaiim18
what to remember in gmat quant all time by einstein1017

Quant Expert Advice

Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 10 posts ] 



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: cbears2010 and 0 guests


Search for:
Jump to:




GMAT Club MBA Forum Home | About | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | GMAT Club Rules | Contact | Sitemap
Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group and phpBB SEO
Kindly note that GMAT (C) is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admission Council, and this site has neither been reviewed nor endorsed by GMAC.