help in solving this quant ques ??

Question

A number is chosen at random from the set of integers that satisfy |x| < p What is the probability that 4/x > x?

A. 7/17

B. 1/5

C. 7/8

D. 1/8

E. None of these

mikemcgarry · Answer

I would be happy to help with this question, but there's something funky. What is p?? By "p", do you mean "pi" (i.e. 3.1415926)? Of course, p can't be the probability, because that would be less than one, which would limit x to the integer zero, which gives an undefined answer to the inequality. Also, that would be a very bizarre self-referential question considerably more sophisticated than something the GMAT would ask. It seems that answering this question depends on knowing something about p. I would say that you haven't given us all the information needed to solve the question. Provide the rest of the information, and I will be happy to help you. Mike :-)

vjvk · Answer

Mike

I got this question from the JumboTest

i checked question again . I had missed out "x" in my question .

i have attached the question .

thanks
vjvk

mikemcgarry · Answer

OK, first of all, this is in no way a realistic GMAT question. The GMAT would never ask this question. It seems that we are able to make any choice we want for P ---- if the question has a meaningful numerical answer, that answer should be independent of the choice of P. If P is zero or anything less than zero, there are not possible values of x, so there's no set to consider at all. If P = 1, the only value in the set would be x = 0, and it violates the mathematical law to plug this in ---- so the probability is zero that we could plug a member in, and the inequality would true. If P = 2, then the set consists of {-1, 0, 1} When x = -1, 4/(-1) = -4 is less than -1, so the inequality is false When x = 0, the inequality is meaningless When x = 1, 4/1 = 4 > 1, and the inequality is true. The probability that a value in this set makes the inequality true is 1/3 Let's jump to P = 4. Then, the set consists of {-3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3} When x = -3, then (-4/3) is greater than (-3), and the inequality is true When x = -2, then -2 = -2, and the inequality is false When x = -1, 4/(-1) = -4 is less than -1, so the inequality is false When x = 0, the inequality is meaningless When x = 1, 4/1 = 4 > 1, and the inequality is true. When x = 2, then 2 = 2, and the inequality is false. When x = 3, then 4/3 is less than 3, so the inequality is false. The probability that a value in this set makes the inequality true is 2/7 What we have found is that if we pick different values of P, the question itself takes on different answers. This means, if P is unspecified, there is no meaningful answer to the question, so E would be the best response. I am not terribly familiar with JumboTest, but judging from this question, I think you need to find a much higher quality source of GMAT prep material. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

help in solving this quant ques ??

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