abc

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abc

by beater » Tue Jan 13, 2009 5:27 pm
a,b and c are integers. Is abc = 0?

1. a^2 = 2a
2. b/c = (a+b)^2 / (a^2+2ab+b^2) - 1
Source: — Data Sufficiency |

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Re: abc

by logitech » Tue Jan 13, 2009 5:41 pm
beater wrote:a,b and c are integers. Is abc = 0?

1. a^2 - 2a = 0

a=2 or a=0

Insuf


2. b/c = (a+b)^2 / (a^2+2ab+b^2) - 1

b/c = (a+b)^2 / [(a+b)^2 -1]

b/(b-c) = (a+b)^2

This gives us that b/(b-c) > 0

b can c can be 0

0/-c = 0

b/b = 1

or they can be any number

a+b can be any nunber too.

SO IMO this is INSUF as well

together we know that

a is either 0 or 2

for a = 0 SUF

for a = 2

b/(b-c) = (a+b)^2

b/(b-c) = b^2

It still does not prove that either b or c is 0

I did not like this question, but I will go with E
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by cramya » Tue Jan 13, 2009 5:57 pm
Stmt I

a2-2a = 0
a(a-2) = 0

a=0 a=2

No info on bc

INSUFF

Stmt II

b/c = (a+b)^2 / (a+b)^2-1

All we know is (a+b)^2-1 > 0

INSUFF

Stmt I and II

Many possibilities for a ,b,c (some can be 0) or non zero

INSUFF

Choose E)

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Re: abc

by Ian Stewart » Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:20 am
beater wrote:a,b and c are integers. Is abc = 0?

1. a^2 = 2a
2. b/c = (a+b)^2 / (a^2+2ab+b^2) - 1
I'm pretty sure, just judging by how contrived the second statement is, that the bracketing on the right side is supposed to be different from how logitech and cramya have interpreted it above. I'd guess it's supposed to read:

b/c = [(a+b)^2 / (a^2+2ab+b^2)] - 1

which changes the answer.
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Re: abc

by logitech » Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:47 am
Ian Stewart wrote:
beater wrote:a,b and c are integers. Is abc = 0?

1. a^2 = 2a
2. b/c = (a+b)^2 / (a^2+2ab+b^2) - 1
I'm pretty sure, just judging by how contrived the second statement is, that the bracketing on the right side is supposed to be different from how logitech and cramya have interpreted it above. I'd guess it's supposed to read:

b/c = [(a+b)^2 / (a^2+2ab+b^2)] - 1

which changes the answer.
Yeap, then second statement will give us b/c=o since C can not be 0, we know that b=o and abc=0 so answer would be B
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by beater » Wed Jan 14, 2009 1:07 pm
Thanks for the clarification Ian.

OA - B

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by cramya » Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:36 pm
Thanks Ian!