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Inequality question, Plz. help

Expert replies
Source: — Problem Solving |

Re: Inequality question, Plz. help

by Ian Stewart » Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:03 am
gmattester wrote:Is x/3 + 3/x >2

a) x<3
b) x>1
Notice that the inequality will be false if x is negative, so 1) is not sufficient. From 2), we know x is positive, so we can multiply both sides by 3x (to get rid of the fractions), and since we know x is positive, we don't need to worry about whether to reverse the inequality when we do this:

If x > 0,

x/3 + 3/x > 2
x^2 + 9 > 6x
x^2 - 6x + 9 > 0
(x-3)^2 > 0

The left side is squared so can't be negative; the inequality will be true for every value of x except x = 3. So Statement 2) is not sufficient on its own (x could be 3), but 1) and 2) together are sufficient (x cannot be 3). C.
For online GMAT math tutoring, or to buy my higher-level Quant books and problem sets, contact me at ianstewartgmat at gmail.com

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by pepeprepa » Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:03 am
x/3 + 3/x >2

x<3
Take x=-3 or take x=2
We do not know anything.

x>1
We see the inequality is true for all x superior to 1. We can write it like that x^2-6x+9>0

Yeap I did not see for x=3, Ian shows you the right solution and I show you how to be trapped by the question :roll:
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by gmattester » Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:37 am
Thanks Ian...

Yes answer is 'C'.

I started this problem like:

x/3 + 3/x > 2
x^2 + 9 > 6x
x^2 - 6x + 9 > 0
(x-3)^2 > 0
x-3>0
Therefore x>3 or x will always be greater than 3.

a) x<3

So I concluded if x<3 - FALSE . Therefore statement 1 is sufficient .
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