number properties

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number properties

by sud21 » Sat Jan 28, 2012 11:23 pm
x and y are integers, (1+x)(1+y)=1 y is not 0, which of the following could be the value of x?
-2,-1,0,1,2
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by Anurag@Gurome » Sat Jan 28, 2012 11:58 pm
sud21 wrote:x and y are integers, (1+x)(1+y)=1 y is not 0, which of the following could be the value of x?
One obvious approach to solve this question is to plug the options.
  • 1. x = -2 --> (1 + x)(1 + y) = -(1 + y) = 1 --> y = -2 --> Possible and we can stop plugging
    In case you don't want to stop...
    2. x = -1 --> (1 + x)(1 + y) = 0 --> NO
    3. x = 0 --> (1 + x)(1 + y) = (1 + y) = 1 --> y = 0 --> NO
    4. x = 1 --> (1 + x)(1 + y) = 2(1 + y) = 1 --> y = -1/2 --> NO
    5. x = 2 --> (1 + x)(1 + y) = 3(1 + y) = 1 --> y = -2/3 --> NO
The correct answer is A.
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