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What is x?

Expert replies
Source: — Data Sufficiency |

by cramya » Sun Dec 21, 2008 5:50 pm
Stmt I

x<2 x>-2

-2<x<2

-1,0,1 or any fraction/decimal in the range above

INSUFF

Stmt II

|X| = 3X-2
X = 3X-2
X=1

-X=3X-2
-4X=-2
X=1/2

x = 1 x=1/2

Only 1 works in the equation above WHEN plugged back
SUFF

Choose B)
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by dmateer25 » Sun Dec 21, 2008 5:57 pm
cramya wrote:It should be E) unless I missed something

Stmt I

x<2 x>-2

-2<x<2

-1,0,1 or any fraction/decimal in the range above

INSUFF

Stmt II

x = 1 x=1/2

INSUFF

Stmt I and II still 2 answers

INSUFF

Choose E)
Can't we eliminate 1/2 in statement two.

|x| = 3(1/2) - 2
|x| = 3/2 - 2
|x| = -1/2

1/2 &#8800; -1/2
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by Abdulla » Sun Dec 21, 2008 6:13 pm
The OA says " because 1/2 contradicts with our assumption while evaluating x as a negative number, so the answer is x=1 , Therefor the answer is B"..
Abdulla
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by cramya » Sun Dec 21, 2008 6:33 pm
Dmateer, u r correct.

I went with E) and immediately realized I dint plug it back in to the original eqn and check and then I corrected it

B) it is
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by ronniecoleman » Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:40 pm
What is x?

(1) |x| < 2

(2) |x| = 3x – 2


1: -2< x < 2

2: x = 3x -2
x = 1

-x = 3x-2
x = 1/2 ( not allowed value )

so x = 1

hence IMO B
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by vishubn » Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:32 am
A)x=-1 1<2 true

x=1 1<2 true

Insuff

B)

x=1

1=3(1)-2

True

Only x=1

OA B

vishu
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by vittalgmat » Mon Dec 22, 2008 1:54 am
oops I fell for the E trap.

So the key takeaway for problems using Absolute Equalities is:
Plug back the two values into the eqn to verify that the value is returned.


Pls let me know if someone can add anything else.

thanks
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