amirhakimi wrote:What is the value of y?
(1) 3|x² - 4| = y - 2
(2) |3 - y| = 11
Target question: What is the value of y?
Statement 1: 3|x² - 4| = y - 2
Tons of possible values for y. Here are two cases:
Case a: x = 0, in which case
y = 14
Case b: x = 1, in which case
y = 11
Since we cannot answer the
target question with certainty, statement 1 is NOT SUFFICIENT
Statement 2: |3 - y| = 11
If |
something| = k (where k >
0), then
something = k, or
something = -k
So, we get two possible equations:
3 - y = 11, in which case
y = -8
3 - y = -11, in which case
y = 14
Since we cannot answer the
target question with certainty, statement 2 is NOT SUFFICIENT
Statements 1 and 2 combined
Statement 2 tells us that y equals
EITHER -8
OR 14
Statement 1 tells us that 3|x² - 4| = y - 2
Since absolute values are always greater than or equal to 0, we know that y - 2
> 0
This means that y
>2
If y
>2, then we can rule out the possibility that y = -8, which means
y MUST equal 14
Since we can answer the
target question with certainty, the combined statements are SUFFICIENT
Answer =
C
Cheers,
Brent
