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# This topic has 2 expert replies and 0 member replies

### Top Member

BTGmoderatorDC Moderator
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#### Are all of the terms in Set A equal?

Sat Aug 11, 2018 10:33 pm

00:00

A

B

C

D

E

## Global Stats

Difficult

Are all of the terms in Set A equal?

(1) The sum of all 14 terms in Set A is 98.
(2) The sum of any 3 terms in Set A is 21.

OA C

Source: Veritas Prep

### GMAT/MBA Expert

GMATGuruNY GMAT Instructor
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Sat Aug 11, 2018 10:51 pm
I posted a solution to a very similar problem here:

https://www.beatthegmat.com/from-og-12-t73239.html

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### GMAT/MBA Expert

Brent@GMATPrepNow GMAT Instructor
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Sun Aug 12, 2018 5:14 am
BTGmoderatorDC wrote:
Are all of the terms in Set A equal?

(1) The sum of all 14 terms in Set A is 98.
(2) The sum of any 3 terms in Set A is 21.
Target question: Are all of the terms in Set A equal?

Statement 1: The sum of all 14 terms in Set A is 98
There are several possible scenarios that satisfy this statement. Here are two.
Case a: Set A = {7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7,7} in which case all of the numbers ARE equal
Case b: Set A = {0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,98}, in which case all of the numbers are NOT equal
Since we cannot answer the target question with certainty, statement 1 is NOT SUFFICIENT

Statement 2: The sum of any 3 terms in Set A is 21
Under most conditions this statement WOULD be sufficient.
However, if set A has only 3 terms in total, then the statement is NOT sufficient.
To see what I mean, consider these two possible scenarios that satisfy statement 2:
Case a: Set A = {7,7,7} in which case all of the numbers ARE equal
Case b: Set A = {0, 0, 21}, in which case all of the numbers are NOT equal
Since we cannot answer the target question with certainty, statement 2 is NOT SUFFICIENT

Statements 1 and 2 combined
The combined statements ARE sufficient. Here's why:
Let's let a,b,c and d be four of the 14 numbers in set A.
From statement 2, we know that a + b + c = 21
Notice that if I replace ANY of these three values (a,b or c) with d, the sum must still be 21 (according to statement 2)
This tells us that a, b and c must all equal d.
I can use a similar approach to show that all of the other numbers must also equal d.
This means that all of the numbers in set A must be equal.
Since we can answer the target question with certainty, the COMBINED statements are SUFFICIENT

Cheers,
Brent

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