Hey all,
I have a general question ... when the problem says when x increases by a factor of 4, for example, does this mean x becomes 4x or x becomes x + 4x = 5x? I find this very confusing. Please shed light on this if possible
appreciate the help!
-Tee
word translation - when x increases by a factor of 4
This topic has expert replies
-
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 4:46 pm
-
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2012 8:06 am
"by a factor of " is used commonly to mean the same as "multiplied by" or "divided by."gmatsaturdayagain wrote:Hey all,
I have a general question ... when the problem says when x increases by a factor of 4, for example, does this mean x becomes 4x or x becomes x + 4x = 5x? I find this very confusing. Please shed light on this if possible
appreciate the help!
-Tee
If x is INCREASED by a factor of 4, it becomes 4x.
If x is DECREASED by a factor of 4, it becomes x/4.
The key word is the direction of change i.e. (increased / decreased) by a factor of.
- Jim@StratusPrep
- MBA Admissions Consultant
- Posts: 2279
- Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 7:51 am
- Location: New York
- Thanked: 660 times
- Followed by:266 members
- GMAT Score:770
It basically means multiplied by... so 4x.
GMAT Answers provides a world class adaptive learning platform.
-- Push button course navigation to simplify planning
-- Daily assignments to fit your exam timeline
-- Organized review that is tailored based on your abiility
-- 1,000s of unique GMAT questions
-- 100s of handwritten 'digital flip books' for OG questions
-- 100% Free Trial and less than $20 per month after.
-- Free GMAT Quantitative Review
-- Push button course navigation to simplify planning
-- Daily assignments to fit your exam timeline
-- Organized review that is tailored based on your abiility
-- 1,000s of unique GMAT questions
-- 100s of handwritten 'digital flip books' for OG questions
-- 100% Free Trial and less than $20 per month after.
-- Free GMAT Quantitative Review
GMAT/MBA Expert
- ceilidh.erickson
- GMAT Instructor
- Posts: 2095
- Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2012 3:22 pm
- Thanked: 1443 times
- Followed by:247 members
As the posters above stated, x becomes 4x.hnoor0066 wrote:does this mean x becomes 4x or x becomes x + 4x = 5x?
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
-
- GMAT Instructor
- Posts: 2630
- Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2012 3:32 pm
- Location: East Bay all the way
- Thanked: 625 times
- Followed by:119 members
- GMAT Score:780
Just for extra confusion, note that this doesn't work the same way if we're dealing with percentages!hnoor0066 wrote:does this mean x becomes 4x or x becomes x + 4x = 5x?
If x INCREASES by 400%, we have x + 4x, or 5x.
But if we want 400% of x, we have only 4x.
English is the worst!