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DS Number Testing Strategies

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jscott319
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DS Number Testing Strategies [#permalink] New post   16 Nov 2010, 19:04
I have been noticing that I am frequently scattered when it comes to testing numbers in certain DS questions.
I think mostly questions with number properties but it might be a symptom on other problems as well.
Does any have any hard set rules they use when it comes determining which numbers to test and the range that they test those numbers?
I really would like to be able to have this planned out.
I know that certain scenarios will call for negatives,positives, 0, fractions to be tested , but I am also curious if people often use the SAME numbers/fractions under certain circumstances and if so what numbers they use that gives them the best results?

Im not sure if there is a post like this, I couldnt find one. This is one strategy i know i need to fix prior to test day



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Re: DS Number Testing Strategies [#permalink] New post   16 Nov 2010, 20:04
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jscott319 wrote:
I have been noticing that I am frequently scattered when it comes to testing numbers in certain DS questions.
I think mostly questions with number properties but it might be a symptom on other problems as well.
Does any have any hard set rules they use when it comes determining which numbers to test and the range that they test those numbers?
I really would like to be able to have this planned out.
I know that certain scenarios will call for negatives,positives, 0, fractions to be tested , but I am also curious if people often use the SAME numbers/fractions under certain circumstances and if so what numbers they use that gives them the best results?

Im not sure if there is a post like this, I couldnt find one. This is one strategy i know i need to fix prior to test day


Even though it depends on the question, still it is always a good idea to consider at least one number greater than 1, 1, a number between 0 and 1, 0, a number between -1 and 0, -1 and a number less than -1. Numbers in these ranges behave differently and generally merit a quick check. But this is just a rule of thumb. Sometimes, there would be more/less numbers you would need to check.
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jscott319
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Re: DS Number Testing Strategies [#permalink] New post   16 Nov 2010, 20:21
Is it common for people and would one even have enough time to check all of those? I realize like you said, every question will depend. Is there a common chart to set up when doing all of this testing?
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puneetpratik
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Re: DS Number Testing Strategies [#permalink] New post   17 Nov 2010, 03:35
I also try number from sets explained by Karishma.
But in many scenarios, answer could be achieved easily and quickly if right technique and sample numbers are used.
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Re: DS Number Testing Strategies [#permalink] New post   17 Nov 2010, 18:04
i have solved many problems taking numbers from the 4 ranges as Karishma has pointed out.

the small inequality questions like

is x<0 ? with 2 simple statements might look simple, but they are tricky...



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Re: DS Number Testing Strategies [#permalink]
17 Nov 2010, 18:04
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