Inequality question, Plz. help

This topic has expert replies
Source: — Problem Solving |

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 2623
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2008 3:17 am
Location: Montreal
Thanked: 1090 times
Followed by:355 members
GMAT Score:780

Re: Inequality question, Plz. help

by Ian Stewart » Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:03 am
gmattester wrote:Is x/3 + 3/x >2

a) x<3
b) x>1
Notice that the inequality will be false if x is negative, so 1) is not sufficient. From 2), we know x is positive, so we can multiply both sides by 3x (to get rid of the fractions), and since we know x is positive, we don't need to worry about whether to reverse the inequality when we do this:

If x > 0,

x/3 + 3/x > 2
x^2 + 9 > 6x
x^2 - 6x + 9 > 0
(x-3)^2 > 0

The left side is squared so can't be negative; the inequality will be true for every value of x except x = 3. So Statement 2) is not sufficient on its own (x could be 3), but 1) and 2) together are sufficient (x cannot be 3). C.
For online GMAT math tutoring, or to buy my higher-level Quant books and problem sets, contact me at ianstewartgmat at gmail.com

ianstewartgmat.com

Legendary Member
Posts: 661
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2008 12:58 pm
Location: France
Thanked: 48 times

by pepeprepa » Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:03 am
x/3 + 3/x >2

x<3
Take x=-3 or take x=2
We do not know anything.

x>1
We see the inequality is true for all x superior to 1. We can write it like that x^2-6x+9>0

Yeap I did not see for x=3, Ian shows you the right solution and I show you how to be trapped by the question :roll:

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 172
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 11:21 am
Thanked: 1 times

by gmattester » Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:37 am
Thanks Ian...

Yes answer is 'C'.

I started this problem like:

x/3 + 3/x > 2
x^2 + 9 > 6x
x^2 - 6x + 9 > 0
(x-3)^2 > 0
x-3>0
Therefore x>3 or x will always be greater than 3.

a) x<3

So I concluded if x<3 - FALSE . Therefore statement 1 is sufficient .