MGMAT GUIDE 3 - Formulas Strategy Problem - Page 63 (4th ed)

[shashank.3d]

The "competitive edge" of a baseball team is defined by the formula √(w/L) where w represents the number of teams wins, and L represents the number of teams losses.This year, the GMAT All Stars had 3 times as many wins and one - half as many losses as they had last year.By what factor did their competitive edge increase?

Can Somebody Please help me with this problem. If I assume different smart numbers I am getting different results.

Thanks in Advance.

MGAMT Guide 3 - Formulas Strategy - Page 63 - 4th edition.

[rajivbhatia2007]

Picking numbers

Suppose initially there are 2 wins and 2 losses
competitive edge = sqrt (2/2) = sqrt (1) = 1

If the wins triple and the losses are halved, we get 6 wins and 1 loss.
competitive edge = sqrt (6/1) = sqrt (6)

Initial: 1 Now: sqrt of 6 so it should increase by a factor of sqrt of 6.

let me know if that is the answer.

[tim]

Shashank, please tell us what smart numbers you were using and what results you got. It's most likely you just made arithmetic errors..

[Prasanth VigneshK147]

I have same problem in the problem set of GRE guide and as the original author of the thread states the answer is different for different numbers, the solution in the answer key assumes both win and losses as 2 (W=2,L=2) and I don't see anything in the question that requires us to do that or maybe I am missing something. I'd appreciate any help on throwing some light on this.....

[RonPurewal]

If the problem asks for a numerical answer, then the same numerical answer must emerge from any valid choice of numbers.

So, you should be able to start with any nonzero numbers at all (as long as your starting number of losses is even, so that you can actually divide it in half).

You don't have to pick numbers; you can also have W wins and L losses for one season, and then 3W wins and L/2 losses for the following season. Provided you know what to do with the resulting expressions, that approach is fine, too—it's just clumsier than picking numbers.