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# E is a collection of four ODD integers and the greatest

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Re: E is a collection of four ODD integers and the greatest  [#permalink]

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15 Aug 2018, 19:51
Hi zs2,

IF you want to use the numbers +1 and -3 as two of your four odd numbers, then that's absolutely fine; by extension though, since those two values differ by 4, each of the OTHER two ODD numbers in the set would have to be +1, -1 or -3.

Thus, your possible Standard Deviations would be...
-3, 1, 1, 1.... which has the SAME S.D. as -3, -3, -3, 1, so we only count this option ONCE.
-3, -3, 1, 1
-3, -3, -1, 1... which has the SAME S.D as -3, -1, 1, 1, so we only count this option ONCE.
-3, -1, -1, 1

You still end up with 4 DIFFERENT possible S.D.s

This same pattern will occur if you use the numbers 13 and 17 too.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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# Rich Cohen

Co-Founder & GMAT Assassin

Special Offer: Save $75 + GMAT Club Tests Free Official GMAT Exam Packs + 70 Pt. Improvement Guarantee www.empowergmat.com/ *****Select EMPOWERgmat Courses now include ALL 6 Official GMAC CATs!***** Intern Joined: 15 Nov 2017 Posts: 35 Re: E is a collection of four ODD integers and the greatest [#permalink] ### Show Tags 05 Feb 2019, 06:13 Hi Bunuel, Is there a simple algebraic approach to solve this within 2 minutes? I am really getting stuck on this one. Thank you!! -KHow Bunuel wrote: I know this question, I've posted it in my topic: http://gmatclub.com/forum/ps-questions- ... 85897.html But there is a typo, it should be: E is a collection of four ODD integers and the greatest difference between any two integers in E is 4. The standard deviation of E must be one of how many numbers? (A) 3 (B) 4 (C) 5 (D) 6 (E) 7 Let the smallest odd integer be 1, thus the largest one will be 5. We can have following 6 types of sets: 1. {1, 1, 1, 5} --> mean=2 --> |mean-x|=(1, 1, 1, 3); 2. {1, 1, 3, 5} --> mean=2.5 --> |mean-x|=(1.5, 1.5, 0.5, 2.5); 3. {1, 1, 5, 5} --> mean=3 --> |mean-x|=(2, 2, 2, 2); 4. {1, 3, 3, 5} --> mean=3 --> |mean-x|=(2, 0, 0, 2); 5. {1, 3, 5, 5} --> mean=3.5 --> |mean-x|=(2.5, 0.5, 1.5, 1.5); 6. {1, 5, 5, 5} --> mean=4 --> |mean-x|=(3, 1, 1, 1). CALCULATING STANDARD DEVIATION OF A SET {x1, x2, ... xn}: 1. Find the mean, $$m$$, of the values. 2. For each value $$x_i$$ calculate its deviation ($$m-x_i$$) from the mean. 3. Calculate the squares of these deviations. 4. Find the mean of the squared deviations. This quantity is the variance. 5. Take the square root of the variance. The quantity is th SD. Expressed by formula: $$standard \ deviation= \sqrt{variance} = \sqrt{\frac{\sum(m-x_i)^2}{N}}$$. You can see that deviation from the mean for 2 pairs of the set is the same, which means that SD of 1 and 6 will be the same and SD of 2 and 5 also will be the same. So SD of such set can take only 4 values. Answer: B. Hope it's clear. Intern Joined: 02 Aug 2013 Posts: 2 Concentration: Technology, Leadership GMAT Date: 11-30-2013 Re: E is a collection of four ODD integers and the greatest [#permalink] ### Show Tags 17 Feb 2019, 02:21 why are we not using negative integers such as (-3,1,-1,1) EMPOWERgmat Instructor Status: GMAT Assassin/Co-Founder Affiliations: EMPOWERgmat Joined: 19 Dec 2014 Posts: 13574 Location: United States (CA) GMAT 1: 800 Q51 V49 GRE 1: Q170 V170 Re: E is a collection of four ODD integers and the greatest [#permalink] ### Show Tags 17 Feb 2019, 13:40 1 Hi shivmsp, IF you want to use the numbers +1 and -3 as two of your four odd numbers, then that's absolutely fine; by extension though, since those two values differ by 4, each of the OTHER two ODD numbers in the set would have to be +1, -1 or -3. Thus, your possible Standard Deviations would be... -3, 1, 1, 1.... which has the SAME S.D. as -3, -3, -3, 1, so we only count this option ONCE. -3, -3, 1, 1 -3, -3, -1, 1... which has the SAME S.D as -3, -1, 1, 1, so we only count this option ONCE. -3, -1, -1, 1 You still end up with 4 DIFFERENT possible S.D.s GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made, Rich _________________ 760+: Learn What GMAT Assassins Do to Score at the Highest Levels Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com # Rich Cohen Co-Founder & GMAT Assassin Special Offer: Save$75 + GMAT Club Tests Free
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Re: E is a collection of four ODD integers and the greatest   [#permalink] 17 Feb 2019, 13:40

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