Find all School-related info fast with the new School-Specific MBA Forum

 It is currently 25 Oct 2016, 02:03

GMAT Club Daily Prep

Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Events & Promotions

Events & Promotions in June
Open Detailed Calendar

If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values

 post reply Question banks Downloads My Bookmarks Reviews Important topics
Author Message
TAGS:

Hide Tags

Senior Manager
Joined: 29 Jan 2011
Posts: 367
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 182 [1] , given: 87

If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values [#permalink]

Show Tags

06 Nov 2011, 14:33
1
KUDOS
4
This post was
BOOKMARKED
00:00

Difficulty:

15% (low)

Question Stats:

75% (01:41) correct 25% (01:03) wrong based on 213 sessions

HideShow timer Statistics

Attachment:

Mean_Median.png [ 65.72 KiB | Viewed 10838 times ]

If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, or 70 with frequencies indicated by the shaded regions above, for which of the frequency distributions is the mean equal to the median?

(A) X only
(B) Y only
(C) Z only
(D) X and Y
(E) X and Z

[Reveal] Spoiler:
I was wondering do we need to order the values to find mean and median in X,Y and Z?

Z = 40,30,20,10,20,30,40

So do we order from lowest value to highest?

If so we get 10,20,20,30,30,40,40

Thus mean = 190/7 = 27.14

and median = 30

and so mean is not equal to median ???

Please explain when do we order the values and when do we not order the values ?

Also, OG explanation doesnt take frequencies into consideration. It just looks at the symmetry and says mean= median for X and Z whcih doesnt make any sense

OPEN DISCUSSION OF THIS QUESTION IS HERE: if-the-variables-x-y-and-z-take-on-only-the-values-168633.html
[Reveal] Spoiler: OA
Manager
Joined: 28 Jul 2011
Posts: 114
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 4 [1] , given: 7

Re: If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values [#permalink]

Show Tags

06 Nov 2011, 19:38
1
KUDOS
To solve this question you need to check for symmetry, which can be visualized in x and z.
Senior Manager
Joined: 29 Jan 2011
Posts: 367
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 182 [0], given: 87

Re: If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values [#permalink]

Show Tags

08 Nov 2011, 03:53
loser wrote:
To solve this question you need to check for symmetry, which can be visualized in x and z.

why dont we consider the frequencies given in this problem too ??? whats the use then of the frequencies given?how do we know we shouldnt consider the frequencies and re-arrange them ?
Senior Manager
Joined: 29 Jan 2011
Posts: 367
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 182 [0], given: 87

Re: If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values [#permalink]

Show Tags

09 Nov 2011, 01:46
siddhans wrote:
loser wrote:
To solve this question you need to check for symmetry, which can be visualized in x and z.

why dont we consider the frequencies given in this problem too ??? whats the use then of the frequencies given?how do we know we shouldnt consider the frequencies and re-arrange them ?

Veritas Prep GMAT Instructor
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Posts: 6966
Location: Pune, India
Followers: 2027

Kudos [?]: 12747 [5] , given: 221

Re: If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values [#permalink]

Show Tags

10 Nov 2011, 22:24
5
KUDOS
Expert's post
3
This post was
BOOKMARKED
siddhans wrote:
Attachment:
Mean_Median.png

I was wondering do we need to order the values to find mean and median in X,Y and Z?

Z = 40,30,20,10,20,30,40

So do we order from lowest value to highest?

If so we get 10,20,20,30,30,40,40

Thus mean = 190/7 = 27.14

and median = 30

and so mean is not equal to median ???

Please explain when do we order the values and when do we not order the values ?

Also, OG explanation doesnt take frequencies into consideration. It just looks at the symmetry and says mean= median for X and Z whcih doesnt make any sense

Responding to a pm:
Go back to the basics. What is mean? It's the average, the single value that can represent all the values. How do you find it? You multiply each value by its frequency, add them all up and divide by the sum of the frequencies.
What is the mean of: 10, 20, 30 - we know it is 20
What is the mean of: 10, 10, 20, 30, 30 - again 20. Why? Because if there is one value '10' which is 10 less than 20, then there is also a value '30' which is 10 more than 20. So effectively, both 10 and 30 give us two 20s.
Similarly, here X is: 10, 20, 20, 30, 30, 30, 40, 40, 40, 40, 50, 50, 50, 60, 60, 70
40 is the mean because we have three 30s and three 50s to balance out. We have two 20s and two 60s to balance out and we have a 10 and a 70 to balance out again.
What is median? Median is the middle value when you arrange the numbers in increasing/decreasing order. We can see that 40 will be the middle value too since there are equal number of total elements on both sides of 40. We have 6 elements smaller than 40 and 6 elements greater than 40. Hence median = 40.

Hence, mean = median for X.

We can reason out the same thing for Z too in exactly the same way.

The only possible answer is (E). I don't have to worry about Y.
_________________

Karishma
Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor
My Blog

Get started with Veritas Prep GMAT On Demand for $199 Veritas Prep Reviews Senior Manager Joined: 29 Jan 2011 Posts: 367 Followers: 0 Kudos [?]: 182 [0], given: 87 Re: If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values [#permalink] Show Tags 11 Nov 2011, 02:42 VeritasPrepKarishma wrote: siddhans wrote: Attachment: Mean_Median.png I was wondering do we need to order the values to find mean and median in X,Y and Z? Z = 40,30,20,10,20,30,40 So do we order from lowest value to highest? If so we get 10,20,20,30,30,40,40 Thus mean = 190/7 = 27.14 and median = 30 and so mean is not equal to median ??? Please explain when do we order the values and when do we not order the values ? Also, OG explanation doesnt take frequencies into consideration. It just looks at the symmetry and says mean= median for X and Z whcih doesnt make any sense Responding to a pm: Go back to the basics. What is mean? It's the average, the single value that can represent all the values. How do you find it? You multiply each value by its frequency, add them all up and divide by the sum of the frequencies. What is the mean of: 10, 20, 30 - we know it is 20 What is the mean of: 10, 10, 20, 30, 30 - again 20. Why? Because if there is one value '10' which is 10 less than 20, then there is also a value '30' which is 10 more than 20. So effectively, both 10 and 30 give us two 20s. Similarly, here X is: 10, 20, 20, 30, 30, 30, 40, 40, 40, 40, 50, 50, 50, 60, 60, 70 40 is the mean because we have three 30s and three 50s to balance out. We have two 20s and two 60s to balance out and we have a 10 and a 70 to balance out again. What is median? Median is the middle value when you arrange the numbers in increasing/decreasing order. We can see that 40 will be the middle value too since there are equal number of total elements on both sides of 40. We have 6 elements smaller than 40 and 6 elements greater than 40. Hence median = 40. Hence, mean = median for X. We can reason out the same thing for Z too in exactly the same way. The only possible answer is (E). I don't have to worry about Y. Wow, i had no idea that if X has 4 shaded squares it should be taken 4 times. To me it looked like that X = 40 (if its shaded at 40) and not 4 times 40 . How do we know if we need to take 4 times 40 and not just 40 ....? Since at 10 X is shaded once and so according to that logic at 40 it should be 10+10+10+10 and not 40+40+40+40? Veritas Prep GMAT Instructor Joined: 16 Oct 2010 Posts: 6966 Location: Pune, India Followers: 2027 Kudos [?]: 12747 [0], given: 221 Re: If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values [#permalink] Show Tags 14 Nov 2011, 10:19 siddhans wrote: Wow, i had no idea that if X has 4 shaded squares it should be taken 4 times. To me it looked like that X = 40 (if its shaded at 40) and not 4 times 40 . How do we know if we need to take 4 times 40 and not just 40 ....? Since at 10 X is shaded once and so according to that logic at 40 it should be 10+10+10+10 and not 40+40+40+40? They mention in the question that it is a frequency distribution so anyway there is no doubt about what the shaded squares mean. The diagram tells you how frequently the value appears in the data e.g. in X, 2 squares are shaded above 60 which means that 60 appears twice. _________________ Karishma Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor My Blog Get started with Veritas Prep GMAT On Demand for$199

Veritas Prep Reviews

Intern
Joined: 16 Nov 2011
Posts: 11
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 1 [0], given: 5

Re: If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values [#permalink]

Show Tags

09 Jan 2012, 20:37
VeritasPrepKarishma wrote:
siddhans wrote:
Wow, i had no idea that if X has 4 shaded squares it should be taken 4 times. To me it looked like that X = 40 (if its shaded at 40) and not 4 times 40 .

How do we know if we need to take 4 times 40 and not just 40 ....? Since at 10 X is shaded once and so according to that logic at 40 it should be 10+10+10+10 and not 40+40+40+40?

They mention in the question that it is a frequency distribution so anyway there is no doubt about what the shaded squares mean. The diagram tells you how frequently the value appears in the data e.g. in X, 2 squares are shaded above 60 which means that 60 appears twice.

Sorry to bring back an old thread.

Can someone explain this more thoroughly??
I understand the MEDIAN part, it's the middle number. But the MEAN part (the average) makes no sense.

AVERAGE = SUM OF NUMBERS/frequency

Average of 1,3,5,7,9,11 = (36)/6 = 4 ;right...

SO FOR EXAMPLE of X, why is not [10+20+20+30+30+30+40+40+40+40+50+50+50+60+60+70]/16
16 is the frequency no?? If we divide all these numbers by 16, we get some funky decimal number.

??CONFUSED???
Veritas Prep GMAT Instructor
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Posts: 6966
Location: Pune, India
Followers: 2027

Kudos [?]: 12747 [0], given: 221

Re: If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values [#permalink]

Show Tags

09 Jan 2012, 21:01
vq35boi wrote:

Sorry to bring back an old thread.

Can someone explain this more thoroughly??
I understand the MEDIAN part, it's the middle number. But the MEAN part (the average) makes no sense.

AVERAGE = SUM OF NUMBERS/frequency

Average of 1,3,5,7,9,11 = (36)/6 = 4 ;right...

SO FOR EXAMPLE of X, why is not [10+20+20+30+30+30+40+40+40+40+50+50+50+60+60+70]/16
16 is the frequency no?? If we divide all these numbers by 16, we get some funky decimal number.

Incorrect calculation. When you do [10+20+20+30+30+30+40+40+40+40+50+50+50+60+60+70]/16, you get 40 as expected. You can figure it out without doing this calculation. Go back to the explanation I provided above of what average means. It helps you deduce that average in this case has to be 40 without calculating. (or check out a standard Arithmetic book to understand this.) The formula you have given just helps you calculate average if you need to calculate it.
_________________

Karishma
Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor
My Blog

Get started with Veritas Prep GMAT On Demand for $199 Veritas Prep Reviews Senior Manager Joined: 23 Oct 2010 Posts: 386 Location: Azerbaijan Concentration: Finance Schools: HEC '15 (A) GMAT 1: 690 Q47 V38 Followers: 21 Kudos [?]: 305 [0], given: 73 Re: If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values [#permalink] Show Tags 10 Jan 2012, 05:41 @VeritasPrepKarishma, dont u think that we can see the right answer even visually. I mean a close look to the pics can reveal, that the white regions are evenly spaced from the median 40. or my approach is more intuitive and I have found the right answer just by luck? _________________ Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true I am still on all gmat forums. msg me if you want to ask me smth Intern Joined: 16 Nov 2011 Posts: 11 Followers: 0 Kudos [?]: 1 [0], given: 5 Re: If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values [#permalink] Show Tags 10 Jan 2012, 16:50 Karishma, thanks, you are right. I had a brain fart. My calculations are incorrect. Had to use excel to actually calculate the problem I understand now. thanks! Veritas Prep GMAT Instructor Joined: 16 Oct 2010 Posts: 6966 Location: Pune, India Followers: 2027 Kudos [?]: 12747 [0], given: 221 Re: If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values [#permalink] Show Tags 11 Jan 2012, 00:33 LalaB wrote: @VeritasPrepKarishma, dont u think that we can see the right answer even visually. I mean a close look to the pics can reveal, that the white regions are evenly spaced from the median 40. or my approach is more intuitive and I have found the right answer just by luck? You are required to see it visually and arrive at the answer. The symmetry shows that the mean and the median will both lie in the middle i.e. at 40. The calculations show the reason the mean will lie in the center in case of symmetrical data. Ideally, you should not do these calculations during the exam. _________________ Karishma Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor My Blog Get started with Veritas Prep GMAT On Demand for$199

Veritas Prep Reviews

Intern
Joined: 17 Nov 2011
Posts: 4
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 2 [0], given: 1

Re: If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values [#permalink]

Show Tags

18 Mar 2012, 07:15
VeritasPrepKarishma wrote:
LalaB wrote:
@VeritasPrepKarishma, dont u think that we can see the right answer even visually. I mean a close look to the pics can reveal, that the white regions are evenly spaced from the median 40. or my approach is more intuitive and I have found the right answer just by luck?

You are required to see it visually and arrive at the answer. The symmetry shows that the mean and the median will both lie in the middle i.e. at 40. The calculations show the reason the mean will lie in the center in case of symmetrical data. Ideally, you should not do these calculations during the exam.

Great Explanation ! however there is one minor subset that we are all missing here. Symmetry results in "mean equals median" however symmetry ( the kinda visual symmetry that we are referring to here) is not a prerequisite.

Consider the following dist that is a slight modification of the Y graph....

value f vf
10 1 10
20 3 60
30 5 150
40 4 160
50 2 100
60 3 180
70 2 140

sum f 20 vf 800 mean 40
median 40(10th and 11th )

so while X and Z can be easily chosen. A simple residual analysis(sum of variation of value over/below mean) of Y wouldnt hurt.( in this case it is not req coz there is only one option with x and z).

Am i thinking on the right lines or have i totally lost it (john nash style) since i have been doin quants for 8 hrs straight....
Veritas Prep GMAT Instructor
Joined: 16 Oct 2010
Posts: 6966
Location: Pune, India
Followers: 2027

Kudos [?]: 12747 [0], given: 221

Re: If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values [#permalink]

Show Tags

19 Mar 2012, 10:22
emailsatz wrote:
VeritasPrepKarishma wrote:
LalaB wrote:
@VeritasPrepKarishma, dont u think that we can see the right answer even visually. I mean a close look to the pics can reveal, that the white regions are evenly spaced from the median 40. or my approach is more intuitive and I have found the right answer just by luck?

You are required to see it visually and arrive at the answer. The symmetry shows that the mean and the median will both lie in the middle i.e. at 40. The calculations show the reason the mean will lie in the center in case of symmetrical data. Ideally, you should not do these calculations during the exam.

Great Explanation ! however there is one minor subset that we are all missing here. Symmetry results in "mean equals median" however symmetry ( the kinda visual symmetry that we are referring to here) is not a prerequisite.

Consider the following dist that is a slight modification of the Y graph....

value f vf
10 1 10
20 3 60
30 5 150
40 4 160
50 2 100
60 3 180
70 2 140

sum f 20 vf 800 mean 40
median 40(10th and 11th )

so while X and Z can be easily chosen. A simple residual analysis(sum of variation of value over/below mean) of Y wouldnt hurt.( in this case it is not req coz there is only one option with x and z).

Am i thinking on the right lines or have i totally lost it (john nash style) since i have been doin quants for 8 hrs straight....

You are right that symmetrical data implies mean = median but it is not a prerequisite. But in this question, we see that for X and Z, "mean = median" so it is not possible that for Y "mean = median" because there is no option giving all three (X, Y and Z). So answer has to be (D) and that is why we can ignore Y. Had there been an option which included Y too, we would have to find out whether this relation holds for Y.
_________________

Karishma
Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor
My Blog

Get started with Veritas Prep GMAT On Demand for \$199

Veritas Prep Reviews

Intern
Joined: 17 Nov 2011
Posts: 4
Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 2 [0], given: 1

Re: If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values [#permalink]

Show Tags

21 Mar 2012, 08:09
True! This problem doesn't warrant an analysis of Y .But on the 700 plus range it is safer to do a quick residual analysis on similar problems that include the asymmetrical option too.Thanks a ton for your response !

Quote:

You are right that symmetrical data implies mean = median but it is not a prerequisite. But in this question, we see that for X and Z, "mean = median" so it is not possible that for Y "mean = median" because there is no option giving all three (X, Y and Z). So answer has to be (D) and that is why we can ignore Y. Had there been an option which included Y too, we would have to find out whether this relation holds for Y.[/quote]
GMAT Club Legend
Joined: 09 Sep 2013
Posts: 12217
Followers: 542

Kudos [?]: 151 [0], given: 0

Re: If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values [#permalink]

Show Tags

22 Jul 2014, 21:20
Hello from the GMAT Club BumpBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.
_________________
Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Posts: 35285
Followers: 6637

Kudos [?]: 85613 [1] , given: 10240

Re: If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values [#permalink]

Show Tags

23 Jul 2014, 00:26
1
KUDOS
Expert's post
1
This post was
BOOKMARKED

If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, or 70 with frequencies indicated by the shaded regions above, for which of the frequency distributions is the mean equal to the median?

(A) X only
(B) Y only
(C) Z only
(D) X and Y
(E) X and Z

The frequency distributions for both X and Z are symmetric about 40, which means that both X and Z have mean = median = 40.

OPEN DISCUSSION OF THIS QUESTION IS HERE: if-the-variables-x-y-and-z-take-on-only-the-values-168633.html
_________________
Re: If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values   [#permalink] 23 Jul 2014, 00:26
Similar topics Replies Last post
Similar
Topics:
3 If X+Y = 2X-2Z, X-2Y = 4Z and X+Y+Z = 21, what is the value of Y/Z? 6 14 Jul 2016, 01:48
What is the value of z, in terms of y and x? 2 15 May 2016, 21:19
14 If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values 10, 20 10 11 Mar 2014, 03:07
5 The value of x is one quarter of z. The sum of x, y, and z 4 01 Mar 2014, 07:44
18 The variable x takes on integer values between 1 and 7 inclu 20 08 Jan 2013, 21:25
Display posts from previous: Sort by

If the variables, X, Y, and Z take on only the values

 post reply Question banks Downloads My Bookmarks Reviews Important topics

 Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group and phpBB SEO Kindly note that the GMAT® test is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admission Council®, and this site has neither been reviewed nor endorsed by GMAC®.