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# If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a

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If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a  [#permalink]

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Updated on: 07 Jun 2013, 07:30
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45% (medium)

Question Stats:

61% (01:25) correct 39% (01:33) wrong based on 285 sessions

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If n=1 and $$\frac{m-n}{p}=2$$ then which of the following is not a possible value of m?

A. -2
B. -1
C. 0
D. 1
E. 2

This is Q 36 from Total GMAT MATH, I don't get the explanation provided in the book!

Originally posted by HBSdetermined on 07 Jun 2013, 07:25.
Last edited by Bunuel on 07 Jun 2013, 07:30, edited 1 time in total.
RENAMED THE TOPIC.
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Re: If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a  [#permalink]

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07 Jun 2013, 07:32
1
1
akhilright wrote:
If n=1 and $$\frac{m-n}{p}=2$$ then which of the following is not a possible value of m?

A. -2
B. -1
C. 0
D. 1
E. 2

This is Q 36 from Total GMAT MATH, I don't get the explanation provided in the book!

Since n=1, then we have that $$\frac{m-1}{p}=2$$. Now, if m=1, then $$\frac{m-1}{p}=\frac{0}{p}=0\neq{2}$$.

Hope it's clear.

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Re: If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a  [#permalink]

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07 Jun 2013, 07:37
Thanks BB, That was pretty simple, I just complicated the math in a away where I got lost! Thanks
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Re: If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a  [#permalink]

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07 Jun 2013, 07:37
1
I don't know what the given solution is from the Total GMAT Math Book but what I did was look for an answer that made the numerator zero. For any other integer for $$m$$ (given $$n=1$$) we can likely find a value for $$p$$ that satisfies the equation. The only situation where this doesn't happen is if the numerator is zero. It's impossible to divide zero by any number and get $$2$$. Hope this helps!

Guess I wasn't fast enough on my reply lol.
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Re: If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a  [#permalink]

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07 Jun 2013, 07:40
akhilright wrote:
Thanks BB, That was pretty simple, I just complicated the math in a away where I got lost! Thanks

BB: members/member-3.html
Bunuel: members/member-73391.html

Two different people.
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Re: If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a  [#permalink]

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07 Jun 2013, 07:44
Bunuel wrote:
akhilright wrote:
Thanks BB, That was pretty simple, I just complicated the math in a away where I got lost! Thanks

BB: members/member-3.html
Bunuel: members/member-73391.html

Two different people.

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Re: If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a  [#permalink]

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07 Jun 2013, 08:00
This is what I did initially and would warn ppl not to complicate unnecessarily:

I took the fraction $$\frac{m-n}{p}=2$$ and simplified it to $$m-n=2p$$ further as given n=1, I simplified it and got $$m=2p+1$$ then I looked on the answers and trying to find an even number as m seems to be an odd one!...and so I created a mental block and cudn think of simply looking for a number which could make the numerator 0 !!!!!!

I end up doing such things and get a Q44! on the real test

Phew!
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Re: If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a  [#permalink]

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07 Jun 2013, 08:05
akhilright wrote:
This is what I did initially and would warn ppl not to complicate unnecessarily:

I took the fraction $$\frac{m-n}{p}=2$$ and simplified it to $$m-n=2p$$ further as given n=1, I simplified it and got $$m=2p+1$$ then I looked on the answers and trying to find an even number as m seems to be an odd one!...and so I created a mental block and cudn think of simply looking for a number which could make the numerator 0 !!!!!!

I end up doing such things and get a Q44! on the real test

Phew!

Notice that 2p+1 (m) would be and odd number if p is an integer.
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Re: If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a  [#permalink]

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07 Jun 2013, 08:09
Bunuel wrote:
akhilright wrote:
This is what I did initially and would warn ppl not to complicate unnecessarily:

I took the fraction $$\frac{m-n}{p}=2$$ and simplified it to $$m-n=2p$$ further as given n=1, I simplified it and got $$m=2p+1$$ then I looked on the answers and trying to find an even number as m seems to be an odd one!...and so I created a mental block and cudn think of simply looking for a number which could make the numerator 0 !!!!!!

I end up doing such things and get a Q44! on the real test

Phew!

Notice that 2p+1 (m) would be and odd number if p is an integer.

OK, Finally I get the reason why we should not use 'p' in our calculation because we don't know if its an integer or not! Thanks BUNUEL!
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Re: If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a  [#permalink]

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07 Jun 2013, 09:43
akhilright wrote:
Bunuel wrote:
akhilright wrote:
This is what I did initially and would warn ppl not to complicate unnecessarily:

I took the fraction $$\frac{m-n}{p}=2$$ and simplified it to $$m-n=2p$$ further as given n=1, I simplified it and got $$m=2p+1$$ then I looked on the answers and trying to find an even number as m seems to be an odd one!...and so I created a mental block and cudn think of simply looking for a number which could make the numerator 0 !!!!!!

I end up doing such things and get a Q44! on the real test

Phew!

Notice that 2p+1 (m) would be and odd number if p is an integer.

OK, Finally I get the reason why we should not use 'p' in our calculation because we don't know if its an integer or not! Thanks BUNUEL!

You can also see that the only time the equation will not work is if p=0.
So make p=0 and solve for m:

$$\frac{m-n}{p}=2$$

$$\frac{m-1}{0}=2$$

m - 1 = 0
m = 1
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Re: If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a  [#permalink]

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07 Jun 2013, 11:07
I'm surprised the question stem does not say p != 0. Typically, most of the GMAT questions I have seen specify such condition.
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Re: If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a  [#permalink]

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07 Jun 2013, 11:15
nt2010 wrote:
I'm surprised the question stem does not say p != 0. Typically, most of the GMAT questions I have seen specify such condition.

The fact that $$p\neq{0}$$ is implied in the condition $$\frac{m-n}{p}=2$$. If $$p$$ were $$0$$ that expression would not be defined.

Hope it's clear
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Re: If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a  [#permalink]

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07 Jun 2013, 11:17
as others have already clarified , I will try to put it this way.

For all the other options except 1 LHS of the equation in the question stem is "some number" (since we don't know the value of P and whether it is an integer or not is also an unknown".

For the valuei choice D i.e. 1, Irrespective of the value of P ' It has to be 0 since the numerator becomes zero and so It can not be the value of M since RHS is not 0
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Re: If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a  [#permalink]

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08 Jun 2013, 04:06
lchen wrote:
You can also see that the only time the equation will not work is if p=0.
So make p=0 and solve for m:

$$\frac{m-n}{p}=2$$

$$\frac{m-1}{0}=2$$

m - 1 = 0
m = 1

That's not correct: (m-n)/p=2 implies that p does not equal to zero, division by 0 is not allowed.
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Re: If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a  [#permalink]

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06 Aug 2014, 21:38
Its simple.. if the value of m=1, the LHS becomes 0 and so cannot be 2,

no m cannot be 1
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Re: If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a  [#permalink]

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16 Aug 2014, 02:09
Bunuel wrote:
lchen wrote:
You can also see that the only time the equation will not work is if p=0.
So make p=0 and solve for m:

$$\frac{m-n}{p}=2$$

$$\frac{m-1}{0}=2$$

m - 1 = 0
m = 1

That's not correct: (m-n)/p=2 implies that p does not equal to zero, division by 0 is not allowed.

That is exactly why Ichen chose to solve the equation for m when p=0, because we are looking for the value of m that is not possible
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Re: If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a  [#permalink]

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19 Jul 2019, 01:41
HBSdetermined wrote:
This is what I did initially and would warn ppl not to complicate unnecessarily:

I took the fraction $$\frac{m-n}{p}=2$$ and simplified it to $$m-n=2p$$ further as given n=1, I simplified it and got $$m=2p+1$$ then I looked on the answers and trying to find an even number as m seems to be an odd one!...and so I created a mental block and cudn think of simply looking for a number which could make the numerator 0 !!!!!!

I end up doing such things and get a Q44! on the real test

Phew!

I did the exact same thing and substituted x with 0.5 to get a different answer. So in such cases are we suppose to assume that x is an integer?
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Re: If n=1 and (m-n)/p=2 then which of the following is not a   [#permalink] 19 Jul 2019, 01:41
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