V2

[oquiella]

x is a positive integer less than 20. What is the value of x?

x is the sum of two consecutive integers.
x is the sum of five consecutive integers.

[akash singhal]

x is a positive integer less than 20. What is the value of x?

x is the sum of two consecutive integers.
x is the sum of five consecutive integers.

Is the answer B??
If I am right I will explain the reasoning.

[DavidG@VeritasPrep]

x is a positive integer less than 20. What is the value of x?

x is the sum of two consecutive integers.
x is the sum of five consecutive integers.

Is the answer B??
If I am right I will explain the reasoning.

Spend a bit more time evaluating the second statement. (Hint: though 'x' is a positive integer, statement 2 does not stipulate that the five consecutive integers that sum to x must all be positive.)

[manik11]

Hi oquiella,

You can just brute force your way out of this one.

Statement 1 : x is the sum of two consecutive integers

Scenario A : 3+4 = 7
Scenario B : 4+5 = 9

Two different values of x --> Not Sufficient

Statement 2 : x is the sum of five consecutive integers.

Scenario A : 1+2+3+4+5 = 15
Scenario B : 0+1+2+3+4 = 10

Two different values of x --> Not Sufficient

Statement 1 + Statement 2

Scenario A : 1+2+3+4+5 = 15 also 8+7 = 15 implies x = 15
Scenario B : -1+0+1+2+3 = 5 also 2+3 = 5 implies x = 5

Not Sufficient

Is the OA E?

[oquiella]

x is a positive integer less than 20. What is the value of x?

x is the sum of two consecutive integers.
x is the sum of five consecutive integers.

Is the answer B??
If I am right I will explain the reasoning.

Spend a bit more time evaluating the second statement. (Hint: though 'x' is a positive integer, statement 2 does not stipulate that the five consecutive integers that sum to x must all be positive.)

Please explain

[DavidG@VeritasPrep]

x is a positive integer less than 20. What is the value of x?

x is the sum of two consecutive integers.
x is the sum of five consecutive integers.

Is the answer B??
If I am right I will explain the reasoning.

Spend a bit more time evaluating the second statement. (Hint: though 'x' is a positive integer, statement 2 does not stipulate that the five consecutive integers that sum to x must all be positive.)

Please explain

I suspect that some percentage of test-takers will see statement 2 and think, okay, x could be 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5, or 15. So that's one value. But if x were 2+ 3 +4 +5 + 6, x would be 20, and that would violate the initial condition, so x can't be 20. Therefore x is 15. Sufficient. The problem with this reasoning is that though x needs to positive, the five consecutive numbers that sum to x do not all need to be positive. x could be 0 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4, or 10. And x could be -1 +0 +1 +2 +3, or 5. So statement 2 is not sufficient when we consider these other scenarios.