Both of the above questions were in an actual GRE.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
Double prime or second derivative? I'm not sure if it makes sense in context though.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
The equations you've posted do not make mathematical sense. If they were in an actually GRE, there must have been some kind of error. I'm guessing the equations used some special font that wasn't available on the computer you used.
Posted by manji (Member # 11600) on :
I'm not actually the one who took the GRE, I'm simply posting the questions on behalf of a friend. So, it's possible that you are correct, and the person made some kind of error in reading the question. I admit that the questions did not make much sense to me, as posted, but it's been about four years since I'd taken a rigorous mathematics course, so I thought I would try asking here.
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
Well Wikipedia doesn't know what they may be, and they know everything!
Only thing I can think of is "to the power of", or an exponent. In the first equation, "2(3+5)" would be the exponent.
Maybe the Selectric typewriter they use to prepare the GRE doesn't support Superscript...? Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
Actually, Wikipedia has the double prime symbol here. Thing is, it doesn't seem to make sense in Manji's context, so either there is context missing or as The Rabbit pointed out, some rendering error.
Posted by ricree101 (Member # 7749) on :
Kind of offtopic, but why use a url shortener? You're already shortening the visible url by setting the link text to "double prime". What's the point of hiding the actual url?
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
I can see two possibilities.
1) misreading, as discussed above.
2) The GRE made it up. They have questions where they first define some new operator, then ask you to apply that operator in a different situation. I think this second is most likely. If so, the only definition that mattered was the one the GRE gave.
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
quote:Originally posted by ricree101: Kind of offtopic, but why use a url shortener? You're already shortening the visible url by setting the link text to "double prime". What's the point of hiding the actual url?
This forum doesn't render URLs with parentheses in them properly, which is the case with quite a few Wikipedia articles.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
ricree101: Hatrack doesn't like brackets
Posted by Raventhief (Member # 9002) on :
Agree with fugu. I'm a GRE prep instructor, so I have to say that the questions as posted are incomplete. The GRE doesn't use the prime notation, so without more information, the symbol is undefined and unsolvable.
Posted by Herblay (Member # 11834) on :
I agree with fugu13. They're using symbols. I dealt with that on the GMAT.
They would be defined in the GRE questions.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
Is there a question in there somewhere?
I'm particularly puzzled by the "answers" to the second problem.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Glenn: while the example is a bit confused due to the use of the (elsewhere defined) operator, in a comparison problem, the answerer will give an answer indicating the larger column, that the columns are equal in value, or that there is insufficient information to decide.
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