Gurpinder wrote:


when a problem says...in terms of t...or any other variable what do they mean by that....

thx all

basically , the mentioned variable should be the only "variable"' bit of the answer i.e should be the only variable in the answer....
for example in the problem that you pointed ...

hypothetically , another solution may be possible in terms of multiple variable of S and T or only in terms of S ... But what they are asking for is that the answer be expressed in terms of only t

adding to it .. I could have said the answer is (202/201) * (1/s) ... this is also correct .. But the question asks me to express it only in terms of t

s = 100*101*....*200
t = 100*101*...*201

so, t = s*201.... or s = t/201.........................(1)

1/s + 1/t = (s+t)/st . Now use eqn(1) above and substitute for s and solve.
i got 202/t, D

I guess the takeaway would be that when ever you see a question that expresses its answers in terms of the relationship between variables, theres ALWAYS a catch in the problem that will tell you about their relationship. So you just have to lookout for it.

In this problem, it was:
s --> 100x101x102......200
t --> 100x101x102......200.....x201

so the relationship between the two variables is that t=s*201 or s=t/201

Thx guys!