Lesson: Introduction to Exponents

Question link: https://gre.myprepclub.com/forum/x-is-an-integer-greater-than-1724.html

You're right; the person should have tested a different value. Let's do that.

CASE I: If x = 2, we get:
QUANTITY A: 3^(x + 1) = 3^(2 + 1) = 3^3 = 27
QUANTITY B: 4^x = 4^2 = 16
In this case, Quantity A is greater.

CASE II: If x = 4, we get:
QUANTITY A: 3^(x + 1) = 3^(4 + 1) = 3^5 = 243
QUANTITY B: 4^x = 4^4 = 256
In this case, Quantity B is greater.

Answer: still D :-)

When it comes to factoring, we can only factor the terms that are separated by addition and subtraction operations.
When the terms are separated by addition and subtraction operations, we must factor the same value out of each term.
For example: 3x + 6xy - 12x² = 3x(1 + 2y - 4x)

When the terms are separated by multiplication operations, then we can only factor ONE of the terms.
For example, I can take 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 and factor a 2 out of the first 8 to get (2)(4) * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8 * 8

Here's a video on factoring: https://www.greenlighttestprep.com/module/gre-algebra-and-equation-solvi...