BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Target Test Prep · GMAT

Choose how you want to prepare

Learn live with an expert or move at your own pace. Every option includes the complete TTP study system.

★★★★★5.0559 reviews
GMATLiveTeach Starts Oct 17
Chris Peckover, Target Test Prep GMAT expert
LIVE ONLINE CLASSES

Get Ready for GMAT Test Day Faster with Live Online Classes

with Chris Peckover, 100th-Percentile GMAT Scorer

Oct 17 · Chris Peckover
Sat · 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM ET
Oct 20 · Chris Peckover
Tue, Thu · 8:00 to 10:00 PM ET
Oct 25 · Josh Braslow
Sun · 1:00 to 4:00 PM ET
Included
40 hours of live online classes + 6 months of TTP OnDemand
  • Attend the first class for free
  • Every class is recorded, so you never fall behind
View classes & enroll
Limited seats availableTarget Test Prep
EALiveTeachOnDemand 5 seats left Start anytime
EXECUTIVE ASSESSMENT

Target Test Prep EA OnDemand

Self-paced EA prep. Study on your schedule.

Logan Thompson
EXECUTIVE ASSESSMENT

Sep 6 to Dec 6, 2026

with Logan Thompson

165+ EA score guarantee
$05-day trial no automatic billing
Schedule
Sun · 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM ET
Included
40 hours of live online classes plus six months of access to the complete TTP EA OnDemand course.
  • 165+ EA Score Guarantee
  • 4,100+ Quant, Verbal, and Integrated Reasoning practice questions
  • 400+ hours of in-depth video lessons
  • 3,000+ step-by-step video solutions
View EA class & enroll Start free 5-day trial
Limited cohort · enrollment openTrial includes full course accessTarget Test Prep
GMATOnDemand Start anytime
SELF-PACED MASTERCLASS

Target Test Prep GMAT OnDemand

Complete access from day one. Study on your schedule.

715+ score guarantee
$0to start then $127/mo
  • Personalized study plan and analytics
  • Thousands of lessons and practice questions

Compare the format, schedule, and included access before enrolling. Prices and seat counts shown reflect the supplied offer details.

Someone Please HELP!!!

Expert replies
Source: — Problem Solving |

by sanju09 » Thu Feb 18, 2010 12:23 am
It's sad to see you lost the fifth choice on this occasion, but let's see what's in store

One thing is here to mention before we go for the elucidation, that on GMAT, whenever we find the phrases like x ≠ 0, ±1, etc, we should make sure that we're going to deal with some rational expression(s) that could contain factors like (x - 0), (x ± 1), etc in its denominators. In order to steer clear of an indeterminate state, they already make us observant with the precincts like that.

From the distance, it could be easily seen that the given rational expression has x^1/2009 as a common factor in the numerator with (x^2 - 1) to spare, and that it has x^1/2010 as a common factor in the denominator, once again with (x^2 - 1) to spare. Hence, (x^2 - 1) is the most visible common factor in the given rational expression, canceled and we are left with x^1/2009/ x^1/2010 = x (x^1/2010)/ x^1/2010 = [spoiler]x[/spoiler].

[spoiler]A[/spoiler]
The mind is everything. What you think you become. -Lord Buddha



Sanjeev K Saxena
Quantitative Instructor
The Princeton Review - Manya Abroad
Lucknow-226001

www.manyagroup.com
Join the discussion

by ajith » Thu Feb 18, 2010 12:41 am
sanju09 wrote:It's sad to see you lost the fifth choice on this occasion, but let's see what's in store

One thing is here to mention before we go for the elucidation, that on GMAT, whenever we find the phrases like x ≠ 0, ±1, etc, we should make sure that we're going to deal with some rational expression(s) that could contain factors like (x - 0), (x ± 1), etc in its denominators. In order to steer clear of an indeterminate state, they already make us observant with the precincts like that.

From the distance, it could be easily seen that the given rational expression has x^1/2009 as a common factor in the numerator with (x^2 - 1) to spare, and that it has x^1/2010 as a common factor in the denominator, once again with (x^2 - 1) to spare. Hence, (x^2 - 1) is the most visible common factor in the given rational expression, canceled and we are left with x^1/2009/ x^1/2010 = x (x^1/2010)/ x^1/2010 = [spoiler]x[/spoiler].

[spoiler]A[/spoiler]
I do not see it that way Sanju

[x^1/2007 - x^1/2009] if we take x^1/2009 as the common factor

x^1/2009 [x^(1/2007-1/2009) -1) which is NOT equal to x^1/2009 (x^2 -1)

Similar is the case with denominator

on top of that x^1/2009/x^1/2010 is not equal to x
Always borrow money from a pessimist, he doesn't expect to be paid back.
Join the discussion

by sanju09 » Thu Feb 18, 2010 12:49 am
ajith wrote:
sanju09 wrote:It's sad to see you lost the fifth choice on this occasion, but let's see what's in store

One thing is here to mention before we go for the elucidation, that on GMAT, whenever we find the phrases like x ≠ 0, ±1, etc, we should make sure that we're going to deal with some rational expression(s) that could contain factors like (x - 0), (x ± 1), etc in its denominators. In order to steer clear of an indeterminate state, they already make us observant with the precincts like that.

From the distance, it could be easily seen that the given rational expression has x^1/2009 as a common factor in the numerator with (x^2 - 1) to spare, and that it has x^1/2010 as a common factor in the denominator, once again with (x^2 - 1) to spare. Hence, (x^2 - 1) is the most visible common factor in the given rational expression, canceled and we are left with x^1/2009/ x^1/2010 = x (x^1/2010)/ x^1/2010 = [spoiler]x[/spoiler].

[spoiler]A[/spoiler]
I do not see it that way Sanju

[x^1/2007 - x^1/2009] if we take x^1/2009 as the common factor

x^1/2009 [x^(1/2007-1/2009) -1) which is NOT equal to x^1/2009 (x^2 -1)

Similar is the case with denominator

on top of that x^1/2009/x^1/2010 is not equal to x
Oh really! Let each of us give it another and closer look, see you soon, ajith
The mind is everything. What you think you become. -Lord Buddha



Sanjeev K Saxena
Quantitative Instructor
The Princeton Review - Manya Abroad
Lucknow-226001

www.manyagroup.com
Join the discussion

by Anchit 777 » Thu Feb 18, 2010 3:55 am
Ajith is absolutely correct, Sanju please prove your point.

Since if you take x^1/2009 commom you get x^1/2009[x^(1/2007-1/2009) - 1]

Ajith can you solve the problem, as it would be a great deal of help for me.
Join the discussion

by ajith » Thu Feb 18, 2010 4:12 am
Anchit 777 wrote:Ajith is absolutely correct, Sanju please prove your point.

Since if you take x^1/2009 commom you get x^1/2009[x^(1/2007-1/2009) - 1]

Ajith can you solve the problem, as it would be a great deal of help for me.
I do not think any of the answer choices are right

Because I tried with x=2 and x=3 and I ended up getting values close to 1

I am sorry, I cannot think of anything
Always borrow money from a pessimist, he doesn't expect to be paid back.
Join the discussion

by Anchit 777 » Thu Feb 18, 2010 4:31 am
The answer is option A> x.

I definitely agree with the fact that no matter what number you put in place of x, you would always end up getting 1.00..something , but the answer is x, and i really wanted to know how.

I got solutions from a few people on Yahoo answers, but all the solutions seemed to be wrong like sanju's method of solving the problem.
I even tried goiit.com but no one has been able to answer me yet.
Join the discussion

by ajith » Thu Feb 18, 2010 4:36 am
Anchit 777 wrote:The answer is option A> x.

I definitely agree with the fact that no matter what number you put in place of x, you would always end up getting 1.00..something , but the answer is x, and i really wanted to know how.

I got solutions from a few people on Yahoo answers, but all the solutions seemed to be wrong like sanju's method of solving the problem.
I even tried goiit.com but no one has been able to answer me yet.
I think the question is wrong, I honestly do.

Because if it is indeed x, it should work well with 2 and 3 also.
Always borrow money from a pessimist, he doesn't expect to be paid back.
Join the discussion

by m&m » Thu Feb 18, 2010 10:20 am
the question above doesn't give any bounds to x aside from saying that x <> -1,0,1

let's park that for now and simplify

(x^1/2007 - x^1/2009)/(x^1/2008 - x^1/2010)

[x^1/2009 * (x^2009/2007 - 1)] / [x^1/2010 * (x^2010/2008 - 1)]

x^1/2009 / x^1/2010 * (x^2009/2007 - 1)/(x^2010/2008 - 1)

x^(1/2009 - 1/2010) * (x^2009/2007 - 1)/(x^2010/2008 - 1)

x^[1/(2010*2009)] * (x^2009/2007 - 1)/(x^2010/2008 - 1)

if the question said |x| < 1,000,000,000 and the question asked what is the "approximate" value then we could assume


(x^2009/2007 - 1) ~ (x^2010/2008 - 1) AND
(x^2009/2007 - 1) / (x^2010/2008 - 1) ~ 1 AND THEREFORE

above equals

x^[1/(2010*2009)]

Turns out that this is a relatively good assumptions as long as x is small - when x gets HUGE (in the order of 10^100) this falls apart, see img below:


Image



As posted, I don't think GMAC would ask this question - my 2 cents
Join the discussion

by sanju09 » Fri Feb 19, 2010 12:30 am
sanju09 wrote:
ajith wrote:
sanju09 wrote:It's sad to see you lost the fifth choice on this occasion, but let's see what's in store

One thing is here to mention before we go for the elucidation, that on GMAT, whenever we find the phrases like x ≠ 0, ±1, etc, we should make sure that we're going to deal with some rational expression(s) that could contain factors like (x - 0), (x ± 1), etc in its denominators. In order to steer clear of an indeterminate state, they already make us observant with the precincts like that.

From the distance, it could be easily seen that the given rational expression has x^1/2009 as a common factor in the numerator with (x^2 - 1) to spare, and that it has x^1/2010 as a common factor in the denominator, once again with (x^2 - 1) to spare. Hence, (x^2 - 1) is the most visible common factor in the given rational expression, canceled and we are left with x^1/2009/ x^1/2010 = x (x^1/2010)/ x^1/2010 = [spoiler]x[/spoiler].

[spoiler]A[/spoiler]
I do not see it that way Sanju

[x^1/2007 - x^1/2009] if we take x^1/2009 as the common factor

x^1/2009 [x^(1/2007-1/2009) -1) which is NOT equal to x^1/2009 (x^2 -1)

Similar is the case with denominator

on top of that x^1/2009/x^1/2010 is not equal to x
Oh really! Let each of us give it another and closer look, see you soon, ajith
Sorry cronies for reappearing so late, thanks to a lingering server problem in this part of land since then. Two things to submit, first is that my distance vision didn't work well on this occasion and resulted in assuming rope in a snake sort of thing for me, that's why I suggested my/our self to have a closer look now. I knew the folly in my elucidation through ajith, so I started trying it again on paper. Secondly, I didn't find it to be a correct problem, as long as the choices are concerned. Just useless to say that it's NOT a GMAT query. Following are few efforts made by me, but to no avail:

Multiplying numerator and denominator by x^2010, we get

[x^ (2010/2007) - x^ (2010/2009)]
[x^ (2010/2008) - x^ (2010/2010)]

=

[x^ (1 + 3/2007) - x^ (1 + 1/2009)]
[x^ (1 + 2/2008) - x]

=

x [x^ (3/2007) - x^ (1/2009)]
x [x^ (2/2008) - 1]

And then a weak assumption ([spoiler]following words are not to be taken as valid[/spoiler])

Owing to the fact that the roots of the order of 2000 applied to a non-zero, non-unity number, x, is so small to assume that we can safely assume

That x^1/2007 = x^1/2008 = x^1/2009 = t, where t tends to 0, but it's never 0 either way.

Hence,

[x^ (1/2007)]^3 - [x^ (1/2009)]
[x^ (1/2008)]^2 - 1

=

t^3 - t
t^2 - 1

=

t(t^2 - 1 )
t^2 - 1

= t

???????????????????

There were few more efforts made by me, but I don't feel like typing so much for nothing. If Anchit is sure that the question is correct from all corners, and also, if he can provide us the source, then I can try it beyond GMAT specifications before saying died.
The mind is everything. What you think you become. -Lord Buddha



Sanjeev K Saxena
Quantitative Instructor
The Princeton Review - Manya Abroad
Lucknow-226001

www.manyagroup.com
Join the discussion

by Anchit 777 » Fri Feb 19, 2010 5:59 am
Hey m&m and sanju, I really appreciate the effort of you guys. Thanks.

I firmly agree with Ajith with the fact that this question is incorrect, since almost all answers are close to one.

Hence if any of the options would have one, that would be it.

Thanks again!
Join the discussion

by shashank.ism » Fri Feb 19, 2010 7:39 am
Anchit 777 wrote:For (x=/= 0 ,+-1,) the expression [x^1/2007 - x^1/2009] / [x^1/2008 - x^1/2010] is equivalent to :


A> x ,
B> x - 1 ,
C> x^2 - 1,
D>1/x .
x^1/2007 -x^1/2009 = x^1/2009 (x^2009/2007-1)
x^1/2008 - x^1/2010 = x^1/2010 (x^2010/2008 -1)
approximating, 2009/2007 =2010/2008 = 1
so exp = x^1/2009/x^1/2010 = x^ (1/2009 - 1/2010)

I think something is fishy in this question
ok archit ur soln. seems to be quite correct...
My Websites:
www.mba.webmaggu.com - India's social Network for MBA Aspirants

www.deal.webmaggu.com -India's online discount, coupon, free stuff informer.

www.dictionary.webmaggu.com - A compact free online dictionary with images.

Nothing is Impossible, even Impossible says I'm possible.
Join the discussion