Is q > r?

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Source: — Data Sufficiency |

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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Tue Jan 22, 2013 9:35 pm
himu wrote:Is q > r?

(1) qr = 32

(2) q^2 > r^2
Target question: Is q > r?

Statement 1: qr = 32
There are several pairs of values that meet this condition. Here are two:
Case a: q = 32 and r = 1, in which case q is greater then r
Case b: q = -32 and r = -1, in which case q is not greater then r
Since we cannot answer the target question with certainty, statement 1 is NOT SUFFICIENT

Statement 2: q^2 > r^2
There are several pairs of values that meet this condition. Here are two:
Case a: q = 32 and r = 1, in which case q is greater then r
Case b: q = -32 and r = -1, in which case q is not greater then r
Since we cannot answer the target question with certainty, statement 2 is NOT SUFFICIENT

Statements 1 and 2 combined:
There are still several pairs of values that meet the two given conditions. Here are two:
Case a: q = 32 and r = 1, in which case q is greater then r
Case b: q = -32 and r = -1, in which case q is not greater then r
Since we still cannot answer the target question with certainty, the combined statements are NOT SUFFICIENT

Answer = E

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
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