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If x and y are positive, is x^3 > y?

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Source: — Data Sufficiency |
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by cameronwu » Wed Jun 17, 2009 6:21 am
My guess is E, even when taken together, both are insufficient.

obviously if x is really large and y is really small it works. But plug (haha, butt-plug) in for example, x=.25, or 1/4. Let's say y=.24, satisfying criteria (2)

(1) Square root of .25 = 1/2 > .24. Satisfied
(2) x>y Satisfied.

now, x^3 = 1/64 is not larger than y, which is .24

Basically, if X is a positive fraction and larger than y, you'll get a different answer than if X were something larger than 1 and y was less than that number. Therefore, you don't know and it's insufficient taken together
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