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# Is x positive?

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Joined: 26 Jun 2012
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28 Jul 2012, 19:39
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Is x positive?

(1) 1/(x+1) < 1
(2) (x-1) is a perfect square.

What is wrong with the following line of thought for condition 1

1/(x+1) < 1

1 < (x+1)

1 -1 < x+1-1

0 < x Hence x>0.
[Reveal] Spoiler: OA
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28 Jul 2012, 20:46
jayoptimist wrote:
Is X positive?

1) 1/(x+1) < 1
2) (x-1) is a perfect square.

What is wrong with the following line of thought for condition 1

1/(x+1) < 1

1 < (x+1)

1 -1 < x+1-1

0 < x Hence x>0.

Hi

For statement 1:
x can be +ve or -ve for positive ( 1,2 ) canbe true for negative values (-3) satisfies the condition, hence 1 is insufficient

for statement 2:
(x-1) is a perfect square hence positive
=> x-1>0 or x>1, hence positive

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Vaibhav

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29 Jul 2012, 01:02
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jayoptimist wrote:
Is x positive?

(1) 1/(x+1) < 1
(2) (x-1) is a perfect square.

What is wrong with the following line of thought for condition 1

1/(x+1) < 1

1 < (x+1)

1 -1 < x+1-1

0 < x Hence x>0.

We can not multiple $$\frac{1}{x+1}< 1$$ by $$x+1$$ since we don't know whether this expression ($$x+1$$) is positive or negative, for the first case we should keep the same sign but for the second case we should flip the sign (when multiplying by negative number we should flip the sign of the inequity).

Is x positive?

(1) 1/(x+1) < 1. If $$x=10$$ then the answer is YES, but if $$x=-10$$ then the answer is NO. Not sufficient.

Or if you want to solve this inequality then: $$\frac{1}{x+1}< 1$$ --> $$1-\frac{1}{x+1}>0$$ --> $$\frac{x}{x+1}>0$$ --> $$x>0$$ or $$x<-1$$, hence $$x$$ could be positive as well as negative. Not sufficient.

(2) (x-1) is a perfect square. Given: $$x-1=\{perfect \ square\}$$ --> $$x=\{perfect \ square\}+1$$. Now, since perfect square is more than or equal to zero, then $$x=\{perfect \ square\}+1=non-negative+1=positive$$. Sufficient.

Hope it's clear.
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10 Jan 2013, 02:34
Bunuel wrote:
jayoptimist wrote:
Is x positive?

(1) 1/(x+1) < 1
(2) (x-1) is a perfect square.

What is wrong with the following line of thought for condition 1

1/(x+1) < 1

1 < (x+1)

1 -1 < x+1-1

0 < x Hence x>0.

We can not multiple $$\frac{1}{x+1}< 1$$ by $$x+1$$ since we don't know whether this expression ($$x+1$$) is positive or negative, for the first case we should keep the same sign but for the second case we should flip the sign (when multiplying by negative number we should flip the sign of the inequity).

Is x positive?

(1) 1/(x+1) < 1. If $$x=10$$ then the answer is YES, but if $$x=-10$$ then the answer is NO. Not sufficient.

Or if you want to solve this inequality then: $$\frac{1}{x+1}< 1$$ --> $$1-\frac{1}{x+1}>0$$ --> $$\frac{x}{x+1}>0$$ --> $$x>0$$ or $$x<-1$$, hence $$x$$ could be positive as well as negative. Not sufficient.

(2) (x-1) is a perfect square. Given: $$x-1=\{perfect \ square\}$$ --> $$x=\{perfect \ square\}+1$$. Now, since perfect square is more than or equal to zero, then $$x=\{perfect \ square\}+1=non-negative+1=positive$$. Sufficient.

Hope it's clear.

Bunuel,

How did you arrive at x<-1 in the explanation below?

"\frac{x}{x+1}>0 --> x>0 or x<-1, hence x could be positive as well as negative. Not sufficient."
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10 Jan 2013, 04:16
jgomey wrote:
Bunuel wrote:
jayoptimist wrote:
Is x positive?

(1) 1/(x+1) < 1
(2) (x-1) is a perfect square.

What is wrong with the following line of thought for condition 1

1/(x+1) < 1

1 < (x+1)

1 -1 < x+1-1

0 < x Hence x>0.

We can not multiple $$\frac{1}{x+1}< 1$$ by $$x+1$$ since we don't know whether this expression ($$x+1$$) is positive or negative, for the first case we should keep the same sign but for the second case we should flip the sign (when multiplying by negative number we should flip the sign of the inequity).

Is x positive?

(1) 1/(x+1) < 1. If $$x=10$$ then the answer is YES, but if $$x=-10$$ then the answer is NO. Not sufficient.

Or if you want to solve this inequality then: $$\frac{1}{x+1}< 1$$ --> $$1-\frac{1}{x+1}>0$$ --> $$\frac{x}{x+1}>0$$ --> $$x>0$$ or $$x<-1$$, hence $$x$$ could be positive as well as negative. Not sufficient.

(2) (x-1) is a perfect square. Given: $$x-1=\{perfect \ square\}$$ --> $$x=\{perfect \ square\}+1$$. Now, since perfect square is more than or equal to zero, then $$x=\{perfect \ square\}+1=non-negative+1=positive$$. Sufficient.

Hope it's clear.

Bunuel,

How did you arrive at x<-1 in the explanation below?

"\frac{x}{x+1}>0 --> x>0 or x<-1, hence x could be positive as well as negative. Not sufficient."

We have $$\frac{x}{x+1}>0$$.

The roots are -1, and 0 (equate the expressions to zero to get the roots and list them in ascending order), this gives us 3 ranges: $$x<-1$$, $$-1<x<0$$, and $$x>0$$.

Now, test some extreme value: for example if $$x$$ is very large number then all two terms (x and x+1) will be positive which gives the positive result for the whole expression, so when $$x>0$$ the expression is positive. Now the trick: as in the 3rd range expression is positive then in 2rd it'll be negative and finally in 1st it'll be positive again: + - +. So, the ranges when the expression is positive are: $$x<-1$$ (1st range) and $$x>0$$ (3rd range).

For more check:
x2-4x-94661.html#p731476
inequalities-trick-91482.html
everything-is-less-than-zero-108884.html?hilit=extreme#p868863

Hope it helps.
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11 Jan 2013, 18:33
The light bulb clicked!!!!

Got it so the condition is met for all numbers less than -1 or greater than 0, but any number between 0 and -1 (Fraction) will result in a negative number.

But even without thinking about the possibility of a fraction, Statement 1 is insufficient because x>0 or x<-1 right?

I know this is a silly, but I didn't realize I could find the roots by doing this:

x/x+1>0

so

x=0

and

x+1=0...x=-1

Is my thinking correct?
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08 Jun 2014, 00:04
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01 Jul 2015, 07:40
Hello from the GMAT Club BumpBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

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Re: Is x positive?   [#permalink] 01 Jul 2015, 07:40
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