Fractions

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vineetbatra: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 355; Joined: Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:42 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 2 times

by vineetbatra » Tue Oct 27, 2009 2:21 pm

Q. X, Y>0, If X^3 = Y, is Y a fraction?
a) X^2 is a fraction.
b) X > Y.

In choice A above does it mean that x^2 is a proper fraction i.e. less than 1 or can we assume that a fraction can be greater than 1. There are 2 types of fractions, proper (<1)and improper (>1).

Can someone shed some light.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Data Sufficiency | Tue Oct 27, 2009 2:21 pm

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Ian Stewart: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 2623; Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2008 3:17 amFollowed by: 355 members; Location: Montreal; Thanked: 1090 times; GMAT Score:780

by Ian Stewart » Tue Oct 27, 2009 4:24 pm

The question is meaningless. To say something is 'a fraction' describes how it is written (it has a numerator and a denominator); fractions are not a special category of number. Any number can be written as a fraction - the number 2 can be written as 2/1, the number -sqrt(2) can be written as -sqrt(2)/1. I don't know where the question is from, but it's not a good question.

For online GMAT math tutoring, or to buy my higher-level Quant books and problem sets, contact me at ianstewartgmat at gmail.com

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vineetbatra: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 355; Joined: Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:42 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 2 times

by vineetbatra » Tue Oct 27, 2009 5:08 pm

Thanks Ian,

The source of this question is one of the "sets". Maybe by fraction they meant an non-integer, if that being the case then B would be correct?

Vineet

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