Number Properties Strategy

[H.Rahman512]

Hi all,

This is just a general question regarding Number Property questions (ie: if x,y and z are integers, is x even? Is pqr>0?, etc.)

I've been working through Guide 5, 5th edition, Number Properties, and the suggested method to solve these types of questions is to draw up a chart with all the possible combinations. These questions have been taking me wayyy over 2 minutes to solve comprehensively, especially the DS versions of these.

Are number property questions usually the harder level quant questions, and do you think that "guessing" on the most of these to have more time for other questions is a bad idea?

Thanks!
Hammad

[StaceyKoprince]

Good question. Real problems will usually limit the possibilities to about 4 or 5 at most, so usually that can be done in about 2 minutes. Some of the examples we show have you doing 8 possibilities - or 4 possibilities with 4 steps to each calculation. We're just really trying to show you all possible permutations and give you practice, but the test questions aren't usually quite that nasty. :)

If any particular problem is really nasty, though, then it's always a candidate for the "B is my favorite letter - I'm guessing!" treatment. You definitely don't want to waste time and mental energy doing some crazy calculations.

In short, practice the skill in general, just as you practice all others. Then, decide when it's worth it to do the problem and when it isn't - again, same as all other skill areas. :)