Is wp + st > 0?
(1) ws + pt > 0
(2) wt + ps > 0
[spoiler]OA=E[/spoiler].
Why is none of the statements sufficient? Could someone give me some help? Please.
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Is wp + st > 0?
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Gmat_mission
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Statements combined:Gmat_mission wrote:Is wp + st > 0?
(1) ws + pt > 0
(2) wt + ps > 0
Try to satisfy both statements while making wp POSITIVE.
Case 1: w=p=s=t=1, with the result that ws + pt = ws + pt = (1*1) + (1*1) = 2 and that wt + ps = (1*1) + (1*1) = 2
In this case, wp + st = (1*1) + (1*1) = 2, so the answer to the question stem is YES.
Try to satisfy both statements while making wp NEGATIVE.
Case 2: w=-1, p=10, s=1, and t=1, with the result ws + pt = (-1*1) + (10*1) = 9 and that wt + ps = (-1*1) + (10*1) = 9
In this case, wp + st = (-1*10) + (1*1) = -9, so the answer to the question stem is NO.
Since the answer is YES in Case 1 but NO in Case 2, the two statements combined are INSUFFICIENT.
The correct answer is E.
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Jeff@TargetTestPrep
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Statement One Alone:Gmat_mission wrote:Is wp + st > 0?
(1) ws + pt > 0
(2) wt + ps > 0
ws + pt > 0
If w = 3 and s = 2 and p = 2 and t = 1, then wp + st > 0 (since all the quantities are positive). However, if w = 3 and s = 2 and p = -2 and t = 3, then wp + st = 3(-2) + 2(3) = 0 is not greater than 0.
Statement one alone is not sufficient.
Statement Two Alone:
wt + ps > 0
If w = 3 and t = 1 and p = 2 and s = 2, then wp + st > 0 (since all the quantities are positive). However, if w = 3 and t = 3 and p = -2 and s = 2, then wp + st = 3(-2) + 2(3) = 0 is not greater than 0.
Statement two alone is not sufficient.
Statements One and Two Together:
The two examples we used for statement one are the same two examples we use for statement two. So we can use these two examples again to show that even with the two statements together, we can't conclusively show that wp + st is greater than 0 (because sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't).
Answer: E
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