Data Sufficiency

yea i thimk E is the right answer. P can be any number above 8 as long as it gives u a result in base 10.............. its a decimal equivalent. i think?????????

Given the condition in statement 2 that Q=8, P can be any positive integer without any limits. Plugging in some values for p and q, lets say 120 and 8, respectively, we can get a finite answer of 1.5. However, as we expand P to infinity the resulting decimal equivalent will also go on infinitely. Therefore, insufficient.

Taken together we can still get decimal equivalents that are finite but we also still have the condition of no limit as P approaches infinity. Therefore, insufficient (E).

The Q is asking for "finite number of non-zero" numbers.

Does the decimal equivalent of P/Q, where P and Q are positive integers, contain only
a finite number of nonzero digits?
(1) P>Q
(2) Q=8

The answer has to be (b).

If P and Q are positive integers, then they're not infinite - we might not know what value they have, but they're definable.

So, if we know that the denominator of the fraction is 8, the question becomes:

If P is a positive integer, does P/8 contain only a finite number of non-zero digits?

For EVERY integer P that we plug in, the expression will have a finite number of digits, since a denominator of 8 gives us a terminating decimal.

So, (2) gives us a definite "yes" answer: choose (b).

It doesn't look like the original explanation was ever provided, but (e) is either a typo or just plain wrong.

I am still confused!

The stem of the question asks does the decimal equ contain a finite number of "NONZERO" digits?

For sure, if 8 is the denominator we will always get a finite number but it may not be NONZERO.

If we divide say 320012 by 8,then we get 40001.5, which is finite but NOT a NONZERO number.

Am i still missing something here?

Stuart Kovinsky wrote:

Does the decimal equivalent of P/Q, where P and Q are positive integers, contain only
a finite number of nonzero digits?
(1) P>Q
(2) Q=8

The answer has to be (b).

If P and Q are positive integers, then they're not infinite - we might not know what value they have, but they're definable.

So, if we know that the denominator of the fraction is 8, the question becomes:

If P is a positive integer, does P/8 contain only a finite number of non-zero digits?

For EVERY integer P that we plug in, the expression will have a finite number of digits, since a denominator of 8 gives us a terminating decimal.

So, (2) gives us a definite "yes" answer: choose (b).

It doesn't look like the original explanation was ever provided, but (e) is either a typo or just plain wrong.

Hi Stuart,
For EVERY integer P that we plug in, the expression will have a finite number of digits, since a denominator of 8 gives us a terminating decimal.

If P=8, and Q=8 then P/Q we get an infinite number of non-zero digits.

thanks
gmatrant

Does the decimal equivalent of P/Q, where P and Q are positive integers, contain only
a finite number of nonzero digits?
(1) P>Q
(2) Q=8

According to me the OA should be E... It is a very simple understanding of basic numbers

Statement 1: Even if P > Q, that does not mean that in that particular fraction there will be a finite number of non - zero digits. There can be terminating as well as recurring fractions having P>Q...

eg 3/1 = 3.00000

eg 7/3 = has infinite number of non-zero digits as that repeats the number of non - zero digits...

Statement 2: Even if the denominator is fixed at 8, the changing numerators some will give finite and some will give infinite number non- zero digits...


Even the combined statements cannot predict the infinity of the non-zero digits...


Hence the correct answer is E.

The answer has to be (b).

If P and Q are positive integers, then they're not infinite - we might not know what value they have, but they're definable.

So, if we know that the denominator of the fraction is 8, the question becomes:

If P is a positive integer, does P/8 contain only a finite number of non-zero digits?

For EVERY integer P that we plug in, the expression will have a finite number of digits, since a denominator of 8 gives us a terminating decimal.

So, (2) gives us a definite "yes" answer: choose (b).


I think I again made a mistake...

any number when divided by 8 will always be terminating fraction i.e it will always give a definite number of non-zero digits... This thing was really important to know...

i got some time to think on this question and bingo got it...

Hence B is the correct answer choice...