DS Question Inequalities

This topic has expert replies
User avatar
Legendary Member
Posts: 643
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 4:27 am
Thanked: 48 times
Followed by:7 members

DS Question Inequalities

by vinay1983 » Thu Sep 05, 2013 2:17 am
Is 1/(a-b) < b-a?

(1) a < b
(2) 1 < la-bl (modulus a-b)
You can, for example never foretell what any one man will do, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to!

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 283
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 11:56 pm
Location: Bangalore, India
Thanked: 97 times
Followed by:26 members
GMAT Score:750

by ganeshrkamath » Thu Sep 05, 2013 2:56 am
vinay1983 wrote:Is 1/(a-b) < b-a?

(1) a < b
(2) 1 < la-bl (modulus a-b)
Statement 1: a < b
(a-b) < 0 and (b-a) > 0
The question becomes
1/negative < positive?
Sufficient.

Statement 2:
Two cases:
Case 1: (a-b) > 1
Case 2: (a-b) < -1
We get a NO for Case 1 and a YES for Case 2.
Not sufficient.

Choose A

Cheers
Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence.

Kelley School of Business (Class of 2016)
GMAT Score: 750 V40 Q51 AWA 5 IR 8
https://www.beatthegmat.com/first-attemp ... tml#688494

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 16207
Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC
Thanked: 5254 times
Followed by:1268 members
GMAT Score:770

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Thu Sep 05, 2013 6:12 am
vinay1983 wrote:Is 1/(a-b) < b-a?

(1) a < b
(2) 1 < |a-b|
Note: My solution is very similar to ganeshrkamath's, but mine uses specific values for a and b in statement 2.


Target question: 1/(a-b) < b-a?

Statement 1: a < b
From this, we can conclude that a-b is negative, and a+b is positive
So, the question becomes: Is 1/negative < positive?, and the answer is a resounding YES!
Since we can answer the target question with certainty, statement 1 is SUFFICIENT

Statement 2: 1 < |a-b|
There are several values of a and b that satisfy this condition. Here are two:
Case a: a = -2 and b = 0, in which case 1/(a-b) < b-a
Case b: a = 2 and b = 0, in which case 1/(a-b) > b-a
Since we cannot answer the target question with certainty, statement 2 is NOT SUFFICIENT

Answer = A

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
Image