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connection between 12 and 21 ?

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Source: — Problem Solving |

Re: connection between 12 and 21 ?

by parallel_chase » Mon Jul 21, 2008 3:28 pm
desiguy wrote:whats the connection between 12 and 21 ?

ans: 1/3

how ?
Only connection that I know is both are divisible by 3 and both are 9 integers apart from each other on the number line.

Also
12/21 = 4/7 if you subtract 3 from numerator and denominator you will get 1/3

OK now seriously this cant be a question. There is something definitely wrong with it.
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Re: connection between 12 and 21 ?

by beeparoo » Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:16 pm
parallel_chase wrote: OK now seriously this cant be a question. There is something definitely wrong with it.
That's cause the FULL question is not typed out. The "connection" is actually a defined in the problem as something like "the lowest common multiple of both integers divided by their products". I know this question because it's been posted here so many times.

Seriously? Have the decency to write out the full question if you want help with your problems.
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by Stuart@KaplanGMAT » Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:41 pm
Yes, most of the question is in fact missing.

This is a "wacky definition" question, in which the term "connection" is defined solely for the purpose of this particular question. Without the definition, there is no possible way to answer the question.
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by gmatutor » Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:12 pm
Is there such a question that exists on the actual GMAT or in OG material? If so I would be interested in reading it. I have seen question that ask about Fermat primes, but that is not a made up concept.
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by Ian Stewart » Thu Jul 24, 2008 8:35 am
gmatutor wrote:Is there such a question that exists on the actual GMAT or in OG material? If so I would be interested in reading it. I have seen question that ask about Fermat primes, but that is not a made up concept.
The 'connection' is actually not a made up concept either; it's just not very useful, since it's always equal to the reciprocal of the GCD (because the LCM*GCD = Product). The GMAT question that immediately comes to mind in this vein is the question about the 'length' of an integer, and if I recall correctly, that question is from GMATPrep- I might be wrong about that. The length, again, is a real math term,- it's interesting to see questions about Fermat Primes, lengths of integers, the golden ratio, etc- the questions are definitely prepared by mathematicians.
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