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(C) 2008 GMAT Club - [t]m07#16[/t]

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Re: (C) 2008 GMAT Club - [t]m07#16[/t]

by moshum » Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:13 pm
logitech wrote:Which expression is the greatest?


1876452 / 1876455
1883456 / 1883459
1883491 / 1883494
1883446 / 1883449
1883453 / 1883456
these expressions are equivalent to:

x / (x+3)

we can modify it to

x/x (1/(1+3/x)) = 1/(1+3/x)

the smaller the denominator, the bigger is the whole fraction

(1+3/x) is minimum when x is maximum

from your list the biggest number for x is 1883491 so answer is

1883491 / 1883494

i am sure there is an easier method to solve this....
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Re: (C) 2008 GMAT Club - [t]m07#16[/t]

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:17 am
logitech wrote:Which expression is the greatest?


1876452 / 1876455
1883456 / 1883459
1883491 / 1883494
1883446 / 1883449
1883453 / 1883456
Another way to look this is to recognize that at each fraction is in the form (x-3)/x
This is equivalent to 1 - 3/x
To maximize 1 - 3/x we want 3/x to be as small as possible.
This is achieved when x is the greatest value. (Answer choice C)
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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