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x and y > 0?

Expert replies
Source: — Data Sufficiency |

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Wed Dec 11, 2013 5:16 pm
josh80 wrote:Are x and y both positive?

1) 2x-2y = 1
2) x/y > 1
Target question: Are x and y both positive?

Statement 1: 2x - 2y = 1
There are several pairs of numbers that satisfy this condition. Here are two:
Case a: x = 1 and y = 0.5, in which case x and y are both positive
Case b: x = -0.5 and y = -1, in which case x and y are not both positive

Statement 2: x/y > 1
This tells us that x/y is positive. This means that either x and y are both positive or x and y are both negative. Here are two possible cases:
Case a: x = 4 and y = 2, in which case x and y are both positive
Case b: x = -4 and y = -2, in which case x and y are not both positive

Statements 1 and 2
Statement 1 tells us that 2x - 2y = 1.
Divide both sides by 2 to get: x - y = 1/2
Solve for x to get x = y + 1/2

Now take the statement 2 inequality (x/y > 1) and replace x with y + 1/2 to get:
(y + 1/2)/y > 1
Rewrite as: y/y + (1/2)/y > 1
Simplify: 1 + 1/(2y) > 1
Subtract 1 from both sides: 1/(2y) > 0
If 1/(2y) is positive, then y must be positive.

Statement 2 tells us that either x and y are both positive or x and y are both negative.
Now that we know that y is positive, it must be the case that x and y are both positive
Since we can now answer the target question with certainty, the combined statements are SUFFICIENT

Answer = C

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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by Patrick_GMATFix » Wed Dec 11, 2013 11:43 pm
josh80 wrote:Are x and y both positive?

1) 2x-2y = 1

2) x/y > 1
This is QID 1229 in the GMATFix Solutions Engine. A more thorough discussion can be found there.

Statement 1
Tells us that x-y = 1/2, so x is bigger than y. All we know is that x is 1/2 to the right of y on the number line. We have no information about signs.

(1) is not sufficient

Statement 2
Since the result of division is positive, x and y must have the same sign.
> Option 1: if they are both positive, x/y > 1 --> x > y
> Option 2: if they are both negative, x/y > 1 --> x < y (sign flips when multiplying by y).

We know they have the same sign, but not whether that sign is positive.

Statement 2 is not sufficient

Together
Statement 2 gave us two options. Knowing that x > y (from statement 1) allows us to determine that option 1 above is the only feasible option. In other words, by combining statements we know that x and y are both positive.

The statements are sufficient together.

Answer: C
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