am i nuts or is this wrong?

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ramasterre: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 4; Joined: Mon Feb 05, 2007 9:05 pm

am i nuts or is this wrong?

by ramasterre » Sun May 13, 2007 4:30 pm

So i'm doing a princeton review online quiz and this just doesnt seem right to me. (This is DS)

If a is an integer, is a > 0?

(1) (7a – 6a) is a positive number.
(2) a – 2 is a negative number.

The quiz says that statement one alone is suff. But I think neither is suff. If a=0 then for (1) then you get a positive #, just as if a were greater than 0. And since zero is an integer - why is my answer incorrect? Please help out as I am just starting to get the hang of DS and now im trying not to be discouraged by this logic.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Data Sufficiency | Sun May 13, 2007 4:30 pm

jayhawk2001: Community Manager; Posts: 789; Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 3:51 pm; Location: Silicon valley, California; Thanked: 30 times; Followed by:1 members

Re: am i nuts or is this wrong?

by jayhawk2001 » Sun May 13, 2007 4:59 pm

ramasterre wrote:So i'm doing a princeton review online quiz and this just doesnt seem right to me. (This is DS)

If a is an integer, is a > 0?

(1) (7a – 6a) is a positive number.
(2) a – 2 is a negative number.

The quiz says that statement one alone is suff. But I think neither is suff. If a=0 then for (1) then you get a positive #, just as if a were greater than 0. And since zero is an integer - why is my answer incorrect? Please help out as I am just starting to get the hang of DS and now im trying not to be discouraged by this logic.

zero is neither positive not negative. So, a=0 does not apply for (1)

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ramasterre: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 4; Joined: Mon Feb 05, 2007 9:05 pm

by ramasterre » Sun May 13, 2007 5:15 pm

But isnt it sayin 7a-6a is positive, not actually referencing a itself but the entire equation? Or am i reading it wrong?

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jayhawk2001: Community Manager; Posts: 789; Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 3:51 pm; Location: Silicon valley, California; Thanked: 30 times; Followed by:1 members

by jayhawk2001 » Sun May 13, 2007 5:40 pm

ramasterre wrote:But isnt it sayin 7a-6a is positive, not actually referencing a itself but the entire equation? Or am i reading it wrong?

Well, you are given that (7a – 6a) is a positive number. So, you
have to exclude a=0. Else (1) will not hold true.

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rajesh_ctm: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 135; Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 7:21 pm; Thanked: 2 times

by rajesh_ctm » Sun May 13, 2007 5:47 pm

ramasterre wrote:But isnt it sayin 7a-6a is positive, not actually referencing a itself but the entire equation? Or am i reading it wrong?

7a - 6a is positive translates to 7a - 6a > 0, or a>0. It is not referring to any equation. It just means the expression 7a - 6a is greater than 0. the expression 7a - 6a can be simplified to a, so a>0.