VJesus12 wrote:If ab ≠0, does a=b?
(1) x^a = x^b
(2) x|a| = x|b|
Since ab ≠0, that means neither a nor b is 0. We need to determine whether a = b.
Statement One Alone:
x^a = x^b
If x = 2, then a = b. However, if x = 1, then a and b could be any numbers. For example, a could be 1 and b could be 2.
Statement one alone is not sufficient.
Statement Two Alone:
x|a| = x|b|
We see that a could equal b; for example, x = 1 and a = b = 1. However, a could also not equal b, for example, x = 1, a = 1 and b = -1.
Statement two is not sufficient.
Statements One and Two Together:
With the two statements, we still can't determine whether a = b.
For example, x = 1 and a = b = 1 or x = 1, a = 1 and b = -1 and thus a does not equal b.
Answer: E
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