ajit257 please check the questions when posting.

Original questions is:

For any integer k greater than 1, the symbol k* denotes the product of all the fractions of the form 1/t, where t is an integer between 1 and k, inclusive. What is the value of 5*/4* ?

A. 5
B. 5/4
C. 4/5
D. 1/4
E. 1/5

As k* denotes the product of all the fractions of the form 1/t, where t is an integer between 1 and k, inclusive then \(5*=\frac{1}{1}*\frac{1}{2}*\frac{1}{3}*\frac{1}{4}*\frac{1}{5}=\frac{1}{5!}\) and \(4*=\frac{1}{1}*\frac{1}{2}*\frac{1}{3}*\frac{1}{4}=\frac{1}{4!}\) --> \(\frac{5*}{4*}=\frac{4!}{5!}=\frac{1}{5}\).

Answer: E.

Great catch Bunuel, and I got the answer right even though i the question was incorrectly stated. Got lucky I guess.

Hi All,

When dealing with 'Symbolism' questions, it often helps to 'play with' the Symbol for a few moments before you attempt to answer the question that's asked. By understanding how the Symbol 'works', you should be able to do the latter calculations faster.

Here, we're told that K* is the PRODUCT of all the fractions of the form 1/T, where T is an integer between 1 and K, inclusive.

Based on this definition....

IF....
K = 2
K* = (1/1)(1/2) = 1/2

IF....
K = 3
K* = (1/1)(1/2)(1/3) = 1/6

Etc.

We're asked to find the value of 5*/4*

Now that we know how the Symbol 'works', solving this problem shouldn't be too difficult. You can actually choose to do the math in a couple of different ways....

5* = (1/1)(1/2)(1/3)(1/4)(1/5)

Don't calculate this just yet though....since we're dividing by 4*, many of those fractions will 'cancel out.'

4* = (1/1)(1/2)(1/3)(1/4)

We're looking for the value of:

(1/1)(1/2)(1/3)(1/4)(1/5) / (1/1)(1/2)(1/3)(1/4)

Since the first four fraction in the numerator and denominator cancel out, we're left with just one fraction:

1/5

Final Answer:

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