Inequalities: Is pr/qs > r/q?

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Inequalities: Is pr/qs > r/q?

by aditya.j » Sun Dec 18, 2011 4:21 am
If p, q, r, and s are non-zero numbers, is pr/qs > r/q?

1) p > s
2) rq > 0

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by Ian Stewart » Sun Dec 18, 2011 4:40 am
aditya.j wrote:If p, q, r, and s are non-zero numbers, is pr/qs > r/q?

1) p > s
2) rq > 0
We want to know if (p/s)*(r/q) > r/q. That is, we want to know whether the fraction r/q would get bigger if we multiply it by p/s.

Even together the statements are not sufficient. From Statement 2 we know that r/q is positive, since r and q have the same sign. Now when we multiply r/q by p/s, the result may get bigger if p and s are both positive -- if you multiply a positive value by 2/1, say, the result will get bigger. But it may also get smaller if s is negative -- if you multiply a positive value by 2/(-1), say, the result will become negative, so will get smaller. So the answer is E.
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