Events & Promotions
|
|
GMAT Club Daily Prep
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
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Jun 1111:00 AM EDT
-01:00 PM EDT
TTP GMAT OnDemand gives serious students 400+ hours of expert video instruction, the full TTP course, AI support, weekly office hours, and a 715+ score guarantee—all built for elite GMAT score improvement.
Jun 1006:00 AM PDT
-06:15 PM PDT
Register for the GMAT Club Virtual MBA Spotlight Fair – the world’s premier event for serious MBA candidates. This is your chance to hear directly from Admissions Directors at nearly every Top 30 MBA program..- Jun 10
10:00 AM PDT
-11:00 AM PDT
Scoring 715 on the GMAT Focus Edition requires more than just learning formulas, memorizing concepts, or solving hundreds of questions. In this episode, Nishant shares how he improved his GMAT preparation by focusing on application of concepts, and more. 
Jun 2207:30 PM EDT
-09:30 PM EDT
Master the GMAT with expert live instruction, a personalized study plan, and real-time support. Includes 40 hours of online classes plus 6 months of access to the TTP GMAT OnDemand video course. Class date: Mon/Wed June 22, 2026 →August 26, 2026
19 Jun 2017, 14:41
Kudos
Bookmarks
For example:
What is the value of y?
(1) x^2 - y^2 = 5
(2) x and y are positive integers
answer is C.
But, if (2) was reworded to "x and y are positive numbers", than wouldn't the answer be E? Since there is an infinitely of numbers you can square that are 5 units apart.
Not sure if there is an easy answer to this, but if you are plugging in number (especially DS problems) when should you try non-integers?
What is the value of y?
(1) x^2 - y^2 = 5
(2) x and y are positive integers
answer is C.
But, if (2) was reworded to "x and y are positive numbers", than wouldn't the answer be E? Since there is an infinitely of numbers you can square that are 5 units apart.
Not sure if there is an easy answer to this, but if you are plugging in number (especially DS problems) when should you try non-integers?
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.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Quantitative Questions Forum
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.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
19 Jun 2017, 22:07
Kudos
Bookmarks
jasonfodor
Yes, if we were not told that x and y are positive integers, the answer would be E. The answer would be E even if we were told that x and y are integers (omitting the word "positive"). In this case y could be +/-2.
As for your other question, if you are not told that variables are integers, then you should certainly consider non-integer values too.
26 Jun 2017, 12:26
Kudos
Bookmarks
The quick, somewhat flippant answer is 'you should try non-integers whenever the problem doesn't tell you not to.' But that's not an easy thing to notice! The human brain isn't very good at noticing what isn't there. You'll probably notice if the problem tells you that the numbers are integers. But it's harder to notice when the problem doesn't say that.
One mnemonic that may help you remember is "FROZEN": Fractions, Roots, One, Zero, Extremes, Negatives. Those are the most common weird cases that you may need to test while solving a Data Sufficiency problem. You won't need to test all of them on every problem (and you wouldn't have time to, anyways!) but quickly thinking through the mnemonic before you submit your answer can help you think of cases you may have missed.
One mnemonic that may help you remember is "FROZEN": Fractions, Roots, One, Zero, Extremes, Negatives. Those are the most common weird cases that you may need to test while solving a Data Sufficiency problem. You won't need to test all of them on every problem (and you wouldn't have time to, anyways!) but quickly thinking through the mnemonic before you submit your answer can help you think of cases you may have missed.
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.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Quantitative Questions Forum
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!
