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 Your Progress
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
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Thank you for using the timer!
We noticed you are actually not timing your practice. Click the START button first next time you use the timer.
There are many benefits to timing your practice, including:
Wondering about your chances for top MBA programs? Join ARINGO for a concise Q&A session where we'll evaluate profiles, estimate school prospects, and offer expert tips.
What do András from Hungary, Conner from the United States, Giorgio from Italy, Leo from Germany, and Saahil from India have in common? They all earned top scores on the GMAT Focus Edition using the Target Test Prep course!
This Memorial Day, honor your future with upto 44% off on our GMAT Focus plans and score 99 %ile before R1. Take advantage of the sale & get access to a personalized study plan, 100+ video lessons, 5 mocks & more at prices starting $149. Hurry up!
Ever wondered how to score a perfect 805 on the GMAT? Julia did it, and she’s here to share her journey to an impressive 805 GMAT Focus score! Scoring 805 is an incredible achievement, and Julia’s story is sure to inspire you.
In this GMAT Success Story episode, we delve into the GMAT journeys of Piyush a petroleum engineer from ISM Dhanbad, India, currently working in the oil and energy sector.
Think a 100% GMAT Focus Verbal score is out of your reach? TTP will make you think again! Our course uses techniques such as topical study and spaced repetition to maximize knowledge retention and make studying simple and fun. Get 20% off until 5/31.
Struggling with shuffling between multiple data sets and question choices? With DI scores now equally weighted, learn how to reduce solving time and boost accuracy on these questions through clever data set analysis. Join us for expert tips!
Do RC/MSR passages scare you? e-GMAT is conducting a masterclass to help you learn – 1. Learn effective reading strategies 2. Tackle difficult RC & MSR with confidence 3. Excel in timed test environment
Register for the GMAT Club Virtual MBA Spotlight fair, the biggest MBA fair of the year. You will have a chance to hear Admissions directors from almost every Top 20 program speak, network with peers, and more.
Usage of Word "Exactly" In Quant Problems
[#permalink]
05 Dec 2012, 00:09
I'm confused about the meaning of the word "exactly" on the GMAT Quant section. I was looking today at a problem from Jeff Sackman's problem set (DS set, question 17) and choice A for a data sufficiency question had this statement:
1. y has exactly two prime factors.
I originally understood this statement as "y has two prime factors and no more". So for instance, 4 has exactly 2 prime factors: 2 and 2. However, the author of the set treats the wording as "y has two unique prime factors", in which case "4 has exactly 1 unique primer factor". I've searched on the Internet and it looks like GmatPrep uses similar wording in one problem:
Does anybody have an idea on what the official stance on this usage is? I've seen the word "exactly" in several other DS questions as well, especially the ones related to sets.
Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block below for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Re: Usage of Word "Exactly" In Quant Problems
[#permalink]
05 Dec 2012, 02:23
alexcey wrote:
I'm confused about the meaning of the word "exactly" on the GMAT Quant section. I was looking today at a problem from Jeff Sackman's problem set (DS set, question 17) and choice A for a data sufficiency question had this statement:
1. y has exactly two prime factors.
I originally understood this statement as "y has two prime factors and no more". So for instance, 4 has exactly 2 prime factors: 2 and 2. However, the author of the set treats the wording as "y has two unique prime factors", in which case "4 has exactly 1 unique primer factor". I've searched on the Internet and it looks like GmatPrep uses similar wording in one problem:
Does anybody have an idea on what the official stance on this usage is? I've seen the word "exactly" in several other DS questions as well, especially the ones related to sets.
y has two prime factors means that y has to unique factors. It cannot be taken to mean 2 & 2. In this instance y cannot be 4. The least possible positive value for y is 6.
As far as sets are concerned, we often see something like "10 people are in exactly two groups". That means that those ten people are not in more than two groups. That is people who are in all three groups are not accounted for in this 10. The significance of this can be seen from Bunuel's explanation in the below page:
Re: Usage of Word "Exactly" In Quant Problems
[#permalink]
05 Dec 2012, 02:47
But then how does one refer to the number of all prime factors in a number then?
Here is what MGMAT says on page 122 of the Number Properties guide: 1. How many different prime factors? ... maybe phrased as "different" or "unique" prime factors 2. How many total prime factors (length)? 3. How many total factors?
Another question that I have is for a statement like this one "Set A has 2 numbers". Does it mean on GMAT that set A can have 3 and more numbers?
Re: Usage of Word "Exactly" In Quant Problems
[#permalink]
05 Dec 2012, 03:24
alexcey wrote:
But then how does one refer to the number of all prime factors in a number then?
Here is what MGMAT says on page 122 of the Number Properties guide: 1. How many different prime factors? ... maybe phrased as "different" or "unique" prime factors 2. How many total prime factors (length)? 3. How many total factors?
Another question that I have is for a statement like this one "Set A has 2 numbers". Does it mean on GMAT that set A can have 3 and more numbers?
As seen from your post itself, that would be the prime factor length
eg: 1080 = 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 5
The number of different prime factors would be 3 (2,3 and 5) The prime factor length would be 7
And IMHO set A has two numbers means only that. i.e It has only two numbers. If it had said "at least two numbers" it would mean that set A has two or more numbers.
Re: Usage of Word "Exactly" In Quant Problems
[#permalink]
10 Dec 2012, 20:32
Expert Reply
alexcey wrote:
I'm confused about the meaning of the word "exactly" on the GMAT Quant section. I was looking today at a problem from Jeff Sackman's problem set (DS set, question 17) and choice A for a data sufficiency question had this statement:
1. y has exactly two prime factors.
I originally understood this statement as "y has two prime factors and no more". So for instance, 4 has exactly 2 prime factors: 2 and 2. However, the author of the set treats the wording as "y has two unique prime factors", in which case "4 has exactly 1 unique primer factor". I've searched on the Internet and it looks like GmatPrep uses similar wording in one problem:
Does anybody have an idea on what the official stance on this usage is? I've seen the word "exactly" in several other DS questions as well, especially the ones related to sets.
The usage can vary a little from question to question but in most cases the intended meaning is quite clear.
y has two prime factors = y has exactly two prime factors = y has two distinct prime factors = y has exactly two distinct prime factors (gives the meaning clearly so is most preferred)
'Set A has two members' means 'Set A has exactly two members and no more'
There is a source of confusion in this concept. Let's discuss that with an example. There were 100 people at a party. The food at the party consisted of three things - cake, candy and corn.
'50 people ate cake' This means exactly 50 people ate cake. The other 50 did not eat cake. The only thing is that of these 50 people, some or all could have eaten something else too. This statement doesn't imply that these 50 did not eat anything else. You have to remember this.
'50 people ate only cake' This is different. This means 50 ate cake and nothing else.
50 people belong to group1 means exactly 50 belong to group1 but the point is that they could belong to other groups too.
Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block above for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
gmatclubot
Re: Usage of Word "Exactly" In Quant Problems [#permalink]
➡️ Olga Chumanskaya, (ex Mercedes-Benz and currently Chief of Staff at Khosla Ventures) talks about her MBA experience and the transformation an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business brought in her life and career.