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Exponents GMAT Prep Question

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Exponents GMAT Prep Question

by Nole23 » Sat Jun 06, 2009 12:05 pm
Any suggestions on how to tackle this question would be great.

2^(4-1)^2
2^(3-2)

A. 2^8
B. 2^7
C. 2^6
D. 2^5
E. 2^4

I got 2^5

OA. A
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Re: Exponents GMAT Prep Question

by Svedankae » Sat Jun 06, 2009 12:23 pm
Nole23 wrote:Any suggestions on how to tackle this question would be great.

2^(4-1)^2
2^(3-2)

A. 2^8
B. 2^7
C. 2^6
D. 2^5
E. 2^4

I got 2^5

OA. A
2^(4-1)^2
2^(3-2)

=

2^(3)^2
2^(1)

=

2^(9)
2

=

2^8
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Re: Exponents GMAT Prep Question

by ssmiles08 » Sat Jun 06, 2009 2:30 pm
Svedankae wrote:
2^(4-1)^2
2^(3-2)

=

2^(3)^2
2^(1)

=

2^(9)
2

=

2^8
how did you get 2^9?

I thought 2^3^2 = 2^6

Do you get 9 with the brackets around the 3?
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by cyclonus » Sat Jun 06, 2009 5:36 pm
You have to pay attention to order of operations.

2^3^2 is the same as 2^(3^2).
You multiplied 3*2 instead of 3 squared which is 9.
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by cramya » Sat Jun 06, 2009 6:51 pm
Takeaways:

1) a^b^c with no parentheses do b^c first and then raise a to that

2) (a^b)^c = a^ (b*c)


Hope this helps in addition to everyhting said above by cyclonus.

Regards,
CR
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by ssmiles08 » Sat Jun 06, 2009 6:55 pm
cramya wrote:Takeaways:

1) a^b^c with no parentheses do b^c first and then raise a to that

Thanks guys! I definitely did not know that! always learn something new when you are studying for the GMAT! :)
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