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number line

by enriqueta26 » Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:27 am
Could someone help with this one, please?

If a and b are nonzero numbers on the number line; is 0 between a and b?

1) The distance between 0 and a is greater than the distance between 0 and b.

2) The sum of the distances between 0 and a and between 0 and b is greater is greater than the distance between 0 and the sum of a+b.

Source Gmat practice test

[spoiler]A: B alone[/spoiler]
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Source: — Data Sufficiency |
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by kvcpk » Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:40 am
Could someone help with this one, please?

If a and b are nonzero numbers on the number line; is 0 between a and b?

1) The distance between 0 and a is greater than the distance between 0 and b.

lets say a=3, b=2
distance between a and 0 is greater than distance between b and 0
0 doesnot lie between a and b... NO
Lets say a=-3, b=2
This also holds the premise.
But this time 0 lies in between A and B...YES

hence INSUFF

2) The sum of the distances between 0 and a and between 0 and b is greater is greater than the distance between 0 and the sum of a+b.

distance between 0 and a means absolute value of a.
same is for b.
Statement 2 is simply saying |a|+|b|>|a+b|
Let us say a,b are both positive.
then a+b>a+b -> Will this be possible? NO
So a and b both cannot be positve.
Same is the case when a and b are both negative.
Hence a has to be positive and b has to be negative.
or, a has to be negative and b has to be positive.
If one is positive and the other is negative, then 0 will definitely lie between them
SUFF

pick B

Hope this helps!!
Let me know in case you face any issue.
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by Haaress » Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:47 am
If a and b are nonzero numbers on the number line; is 0 between a and b?

1) The distance between 0 and a is greater than the distance between 0 and b.

2) The sum of the distances between 0 and a and between 0 and b is greater is greater than the distance between 0 and the sum of a+b.

Stmt 1 is comparing the absolute value ( distance ) between 0A and 0B ( where 0A and OB refer to the distance btw zero and A to that of zero and B). This is not helpful to understand whether zero is between them. So Insuff.

Stmt2 tells us that OA + OB > A + B, meaning that the absolute value( positive distance) is greater that the sum of specific values of A and B.

Example - if A is on 5 on the numberline and B is a 7, then OA + OB is not greater than A + B, however, if A is -5 and B is 7 then OA + OB = 7 + 5 = 12, but A + B = -5 + 7 = 2. Thus 12 > 2. So Suff.
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