BlueDragon2010 wrote:If v and w are different integers, does v = 0?
1) vw = v²
2) w = 2
Target question: Does v = 0?
Given: v and w are different integers
Statement 1: vw = v²
Set equal to zero: v² - vw = 0
Factor to get: v(v - w) = 0
Since this product equals 0, there are two possibilities:
case a: v = 0
case b: v - w = 0 (in other words v = w)
HOWEVER, case b is impossible, because we're told that
v and w are different integers
So, we can rule out case b, which means
it MUST BE THE CASE that v = 0
Since we can answer the
target question with certainty, statement 1 is SUFFICIENT
Statement 2: w = 2
There's no information about v, which means
we can't determine whether or not v = 0
Since we cannot answer the
target question with certainty, statement 2 is NOT SUFFICIENT
Answer =
A
Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
