Roots

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Roots

by Deepthi Subbu » Sat Mar 16, 2013 7:59 am
If z is a positive integer, is z^1/2 an integer?

(1) xz^1/2 is an integer.
(2) x = z^3

Taken together, the statements are still insu¢ cient. Since (2) gives you x
in terms of z, you can plug that into (1):
((z^3)(z))^1/2 = integer (z^4)^1/2 = integer
z^2 = integer
Knowing that z^2 is an integer is not enough to answer the question: we want
to know whether z itself is a perfect square. As is, z neednÂ’t even be an integer,
let alone a perfect square: it could be 2^1/2. It could be an integer, but for Data
Sufficiency, "could" isnÂ’t good enough.

My doubt is in the question it been mentioned that z is an integer, but this is being contradicted when both statements are taken together.

Where am I going wrong?
Source: — Data Sufficiency |

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by srcc25anu » Sat Mar 16, 2013 8:26 am
Taking both statements together: sqrt(z^4) = z^2 is an INTEGER
lets Say sqrt(z^4) or z^2 = 4 => z = 2

but we are asked if Sqrt z is an INT which would be sqrt 2 = 1.414 in the above scenario (not an integer)

Alternatively if we think sqrt(z^4) or z^2 = 16 => z = 4. in this case root z = 2 (INTEGER)

hence insufficient ANswer is E.

And yes - For a YES / NO Data sufficieny, COULD is not godd enough to definately say yes or no. so we treat that as INSUFFICIENT.

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z

by Anju@Gurome » Sat Mar 16, 2013 8:30 am
Deepthi Subbu wrote:If z is a positive integer, is z^1/2 an integer?

(1) xz^1/2 is an integer.
(2) x = z^3

Taken together, the statements are still insu¢ cient. Since (2) gives you x
in terms of z, you can plug that into (1):
((z^3)(z))^1/2 = integer (z^4)^1/2 = integer
z^2 = integer
Knowing that z^2 is an integer is not enough to answer the question: we want
to know whether z itself is a perfect square. As is, z neednÂ’t even be an integer,
let alone a perfect square: it could be 2^1/2. It could be an integer, but for Data
Sufficiency, "could" isnÂ’t good enough.

My doubt is in the question it been mentioned that z is an integer, but this is being contradicted when both statements are taken together.

Where am I going wrong?
You cannot ignore what is already mentioned in the question stem.
As the question stem has mentioned z is a positive integer, we have to stick to that. If at some point in the further analysis of the problem we face a situation which contradicts it, we have to just discard that situation.

As for the solution of the problem, taking both statements together, we can conclude that z² is an integer which can be concluded from the question stem itself. Hence, together the statements provide no substantial information.

The correct answer is E.
Anju Agarwal
Quant Expert, Gurome

Backup Methods : General guide on plugging, estimation etc.
Wavy Curve Method : Solving complex inequalities in a matter of seconds.

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