What is the 999th term of the series S ?
(1) The first 4 four terms of S are (1 + 1)^2 , (2 + 1)^2 , (3 + 1)^2 , and (4 + 1)^2.
(2) For every x, the xth term of S is (x + 1)^2.
DS-sequence and series
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Hi,
From(1): No information about the pattern for 999th term
Not sufficient
From(2): 999th term is (999+1)^2
Sufficient
Hence, B
From(1): No information about the pattern for 999th term
Not sufficient
From(2): 999th term is (999+1)^2
Sufficient
Hence, B
Cheers!
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Things are not what they appear to be... nor are they otherwise
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Option 1 it clearly shows the sequence
1st term - (1+1)^2
2nd term - (2+1)^2
3rd term - (3+1)^2
.....so on hence 999th term (999+1)^2 -- SUFFICIENT
Option 2: Its equation representation of the series so 999th term is (999+1)^2
---- SUFFICIENT
[spoiler]Hence : D[/spoiler]
1st term - (1+1)^2
2nd term - (2+1)^2
3rd term - (3+1)^2
.....so on hence 999th term (999+1)^2 -- SUFFICIENT
Option 2: Its equation representation of the series so 999th term is (999+1)^2
---- SUFFICIENT
[spoiler]Hence : D[/spoiler]
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All Statement 1 tells you is that the first four terms are 4, 9, 16 and 25. Statement 1 tells you nothing about how the sequence continues beyond the fourth term. The sequence might, for example, be a 'looping' sequence like the following:srikanthb.69 wrote:Option 1 it clearly shows the sequence
1st term - (1+1)^2
2nd term - (2+1)^2
3rd term - (3+1)^2
.....so on hence 999th term (999+1)^2 -- SUFFICIENT
4, 9, 16, 25, 4, 9, 16, 25, 4, 9, 16, 25, ...
or of course it could be a sequence of perfect squares:
4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, ...
among many possibilities, so Statement 1 is not sufficient.
A sequence is just a list of numbers, in order. The numbers do not *need* to follow any kind of rule or pattern. Don't 'guess' that some rule or pattern exists in a sequence just because a few terms appear to follow some pattern. If you only know the first few terms in a sequence, and you have no rule that lets you predict other terms of the sequence, then the other terms could genuinely be anything at all. In the question above, Statement 1 only tells us the first few terms, so is not sufficient, whereas Statement 2 gives us a rule that lets us predict every term, so is sufficient. The answer is B.
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yes, the OA is B
I made the mistake of choosing D in one of my tests. I wanted a clear explanation on this.
I realized that nothing should be assumed in GMATland
Thanks Ian for a wonderful explanation.
I made the mistake of choosing D in one of my tests. I wanted a clear explanation on this.
I realized that nothing should be assumed in GMATland
Thanks Ian for a wonderful explanation.
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Yes even I went for D.
But looking back, If it was mentioned that the sequence would continue to be so, then D would have been a better answer.
But I guess B is right with whatever we have.
Good one.
But looking back, If it was mentioned that the sequence would continue to be so, then D would have been a better answer.
But I guess B is right with whatever we have.
Good one.