Unsure topics of Permutations & Combinations & Funct

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Fazze: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 4; Joined: Sat Dec 22, 2012 8:46 am

by Fazze » Thu Feb 07, 2013 9:48 pm

Hi... i've done the OG Quantitative section of both problem solving and data sufficiency...
however right now i have been studying the Nova's GMAT BIBLE book and from all the individual chapters i came across, there were 2 chapters where i faced some problems regarding the topics, probably because i have never encountered them before... i mean i did back on my A-level days but not on the GMAT OG maths...kindly please help me by letting me know that Are these topics really on the GMAT cause i have never seen their maths on the 700 sums of OG (Main & Quantitative Section)

1. Permutations & Combinations:
* With Repetitions
* Distinguishable / Indistinguishable Objects
* Cyclic Permutations
(i've never seen 1 math involving these terms... are they actually there in the GMAT syllabus? )

2. Functions:
The Nova's Bible Book has functions involving various graphs y = "Square Root x" (in all 4 ways of positive and negative reflections...translations... transformations n what not) which also has its findings on domain & range... now the maths i have come across with previously did not have this specific topics. then there is :
* Qualitative behavior of graphs n functions
* Functions as models of real-life situations

Overall... my question to you guys is that are these topics ACTUALLY "IN" the GMAT or are these just on the additional studies which we do not really need to come across in order to solve all the GMAT problems... ???

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Thu Feb 07, 2013 9:48 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 » Fri Feb 08, 2013 12:08 am

I've seen some of the topics you list under Permutations and Combinations tested in real GMAT questions, but they certainly are not important. I've seen several thousand official GMAT Quant questions, and I think I've seen exactly one which tested circular permutations, for example, so the chance you'll need to know anything about them on test day is minuscule. The content you list on functions is even less likely to appear on the test; I've never seen a question where you'd need to know what the graph of y = âˆšx looks like, or where you'd need to understand anything algebraic about how to reflect or translate the graph of a function.

I don't like to comment about specific prep company materials on this forum, but if you've worked through all of the Official Guides and GMATPrep, you will have a very good idea of what material is tested on the GMAT and what material isn't tested. If you are using a book that discusses a lot of topics that you haven't encountered anywhere in the OG or in other official sources, you might be better off finding a book that focuses on more relevant material.

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

ianstewartgmat.com

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