What is the value of p^3 - q^3?

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What is the value of p^3 - q^3?

by Vincen » Fri Nov 10, 2017 6:08 am
What is the value of p^3 - q^3?

(1) p - q = 0
(2) p + q = 0

The OA is A .

How can I use p-q=0 to get the value of p^3-q^3? And why p+q=0 is not sufficient?

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by GMATGuruNY » Fri Nov 10, 2017 6:39 am
Vincen wrote:What is the value of p^3 - q^3?

(1) p - q = 0
(2) p + q = 0
Statement 1:
Thus, p=q.
Substituting p=q into p³ - q³, we get:
p³ - q³ = p³ - p³ = 0.
SUFFICIENT.

Statement 2:
If p=0 and q=0, then p³ - q³ = 0³ - 0³ = 0.
If p=1 and q=-1, then p³ - q³ = 1³ - (-1)³ = 1 +1 = 2.
Since p³ - q³ can be different values, INSUFFICIENT.

The correct answer is A.
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by [email protected] » Fri Nov 10, 2017 10:52 am
Hi Vincent,

We're asked for the value of P^3 - Q^3. This question can be solved with a mix of TESTing VALUES and Number Property rules.

1) P - Q = 0

With Fact 1, we know that P and Q have to be the SAME number (since subtracting Q from P equals 0). Thus, regardless of what value we use for P and Q, we'll end up with the equal values for P^3 and Q^3. Thus, the answer to the question is ALWAYS 0.
Fact 1 is SUFFICIENT

2) P + Q = 0

With Fact 2, we can easily TEST VALUES and track the results:
IF....
P=0, Q=0, then 0^3 - 0^3 = 0 and the answer to the question is 0
P=1, Q = -1, then 1^3 - (-1)^3 = 2 and the answer to the question is 2
Fact 2 is INSUFFICIENT

Final Answer: A

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by Matt@VeritasPrep » Fri Nov 10, 2017 1:07 pm
Any time we have one cube minus another, we can factor like so:

p³ - q³ =>

(p - q) * (p² + pq + q²)

So if we're told (p - q) = 0, p³ - q³ is 0 * (p² + pq + q²), or 0.

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by Matt@VeritasPrep » Fri Nov 10, 2017 1:08 pm
Alternatively, if p - q = 0, we can say that p = q, and that p³ - q³ = p³ - p³ = 0.