Is m+z>0
(1) m - 3z > 0
(2) 4z - m > 0
Target question: Is m + z > 0?
Statement 1: m - 3z > 0
There are several sets of numbers that meet this condition. Here are two:
Case a: m = 4 and z = 1, in which case m + z is greater than 0
Case a: m = 4 and z = -10, in which case m + z is not greater than 0
Since we cannot answer the target question with certainty, statement 1 is NOT SUFFICIENT
Statement 2: 4z - m > 0
There are several sets of numbers that meet this condition. Here are two:
Case a: m = 1 and z = 4, in which case m + z is greater than 0
Case a: m = -10 and z = 1, in which case m + z is not greater than 0
Since we cannot answer the target question with certainty, statement 2 is NOT SUFFICIENT
Statements 1 and 2 combined:
Rearrange statement 1 to get: -3z + m > 0
Statement 2: 4z - m > 0
Multiply both sides of -3z + m > 0 by 5 to get: -15z + 5m > 0
Multiply both sides of 4z - m > 0 by 4 to get: 16z - 4m > 0
Since both inequality signs are facing the same direction, we can ADD the two green inequalities to get: z + m > 0
Since we can answer the target question with certainty, the combined statements are SUFFICIENT
Answer = C
Cheers,
Brent
