GMAT OFFICIAL GUIDE DS

Solution:

We need to determine the cube root of w. Thus, if we have a value for w, we can determine the value of the cube root of w.

Statement One Alone:

The 5th root of w is 64.

Recall that the nth root of a number is the number raised to the 1/n power; we can set up an equation with the information from statement one.

w^(1/5) = 64

Now raise both sides of the equation to the 5th power.

w = 64^5

Since we know that we have a unique value for w, we can stop here. This is enough information to enable us to determine the value of the cube root of w. Statement one provides enough information to answer the question. We can eliminate answer choices B, C, and E.

Statement Two Alone:

The 15th root of w is 4.

We can set up an equation with the information from statement two.

w^(1/15) = 4

w = 4^15

Since we know that we have a unique value for w, we can stop here. This is enough information to enable us to determine the value of the cube root of w. Statement two is also sufficient.

Answer: D

About The Author

Scott Woodbury-Stewart is the founder & CEO of Target Test Prep. A passionate teacher who is deeply invested in the success of his students, Scott began his career teaching physics, chemistry, math, and biology. Since then, he has spent more than a decade helping students gain entry into the world’s top business schools, logging 10,000+ hours of GMAT, EA, GRE and SAT instruction. Scott also served as lead content developer and curriculum architect for the revolutionary courses Target Test Prep GMAT, Target Test Prep EA, Target Test Prep GRE and Target Test Prep SAT Quant.