On the number line, the distance between x and y is greater

Oldest

Best Reply

Author

Message

TAGS:

Intern

Joined: 29 Dec 2011

Posts: 10

Concentration: Finance

Schools: Yale '14

GMAT 1: 710 Q48 V38
GMAT 2: 720 Q49 V40

GPA: 3.3

Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 0 [0], given: 6

On the number line, the distance between x and y is greater [#permalink]

03 Feb 2012, 14:32

00:00

Question Stats:

73% (01:54) correct

26% (39:33) wrong

based on 6 sessions

On the number line, the distance between x and y is greater than the distance between x and z. Does z lie between x and y on the number line?

(1) xyz < 0
(2) xy < 0

[Reveal] Spoiler: OA

GMAT Club team member

Joined: 02 Sep 2009

Posts: 11594

Followers: 1799

Kudos [?]: 9583 [6] , given: 826

Re: Does z lie between x and y on a number line? [#permalink]

03 Feb 2012, 16:21

This post received
KUDOS

jj97cornell wrote:

On a number line the distance between x and y is greater than the distance between x and z. Does z lie between x and y on a number line?

(1) xyz < 0
(2) xy < 0

On the number line, the distance between x and y is greater than the distance between x and z. Does z lie between x and y on the number line?

The distance between x and y is greater than the distance between x and z, means that we can have one of the following four scenarios:
A. y--------z--x (YES case);
B. x--z--------y (YES case);
C. y--------x--z (NO case);
D. z--x--------y (NO case)'

The question asks whether we have scenarios A or B (z lies between x and y).

(1) xyz <0 --> either all three are negative or any two are positive and the third one is negative. If we place zero between y and z in case A (making y negative and x, z positive), then the answer would be YES but if we place zero between y and x in case C, then the answer would be NO. Not sufficient.

(2) xy<0 --> x and y have opposite signs. The same here: We can place zero between y and x in case A and the answer would be YES but we can also place zero between y and x in case C and the answer would be NO. Not sufficient.

(1)+(2) Both case A (answer YES) and case C (answer NO) satisfy the statements. Not sufficient.

A. y----0----z--x (YES case) --> xyz<0 and xy<0;
C. y----0----x--z (NO case) --> xyz<0 and xy<0.

Answer: E.

Hope it's clear.
_________________

PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW: 11 Rules for Posting!!!

RESOURCES: [GMAT MATH BOOK]; 1. Triangles; 2. Polygons; 3. Coordinate Geometry; 4. Factorials; 5. Circles; 6. Number Theory

COLLECTION OF QUESTIONS:
PS: 1. Tough and Tricky questions; 2. Hard questions; 3. Hard questions part 2; 4. Standard deviation; 5. Tough Problem Solving Questions With Solutions; 6. Probability and Combinations Questions With Solutions; 7 Tough and tricky exponents and roots questions; 8 12 Easy Pieces (or not?); 9 Bakers' Dozen; 10 Algebra set. NEW!!!

DS: 1. DS tough questions; 2. DS tough questions part 2; 3. DS tough questions part 3; 4. DS Standard deviation; 5. Inequalities; 6. 700+ GMAT Data Sufficiency Questions With Explanations; 7 Tough and tricky exponents and roots questions; 8 The Discreet Charm of the DS ; 9 Devil's Dozen!!!; 10 Number Properties set. NEW!!!

What are GMAT Club Tests?
25 extra-hard Quant Tests

Find out what's new at GMAT Club - latest features and updates

Manager

Status: Employed

Joined: 17 Nov 2011

Posts: 101

Location: Pakistan

Concentration: International Business, Marketing

GMAT 1: 720 Q49 V40

GPA: 3.2

WE: Business Development (Internet and New Media)

Followers: 4

Kudos [?]: 42 [2] , given: 10

Re: On the number line, the distance between x and y is greater [#permalink]

03 Feb 2012, 16:36

This post received
KUDOS

1. Statement 1 tells us that xyz<0

Which basically means that either all 3 are negative or one of them is negative. We can draw two scenarios of a number line where z is between x and y and where z is on the right of x and y on the left of x and maintain the condition that all three are negative. Hence Insufficient.

2. Statement 2 tells us that xy<0

Which basically means that either x is negative or y is negative. No statement about z so obviously insufficient.

Now together we know that if either x or y are negative, and one of them is positive, z has to be positive. So again we draw two scenarios on the number line and we find that two cases are possible, one where z is in the middle and one where it is not. Hence both statements combined are insufficient as well.

Answer. E .. I am attaching a diagram to illustrate.

[img]

Attachment:

Number%20Line.jpg

[/img]

Attachments

Number Line.jpg [ 105.17 KiB | Viewed 3505 times ]

_________________

"Nowadays, people know the price of everything, and the value of nothing." Oscar Wilde

Last edited by omerrauf on 03 Feb 2012, 17:04, edited 1 time in total.

Intern

Joined: 16 Oct 2012

Posts: 9

Followers: 0

Kudos [?]: 0 [0], given: 8

On the number line, the distance between x and y [#permalink]

11 Jan 2013, 23:15

On the number line, the distance between x and y is greater than the distance between x and z. Does z lie between x and y on the number line?

(1) xyz<0
(2) xy<0

GMAT Club team member

Joined: 02 Sep 2009

Posts: 11594

Followers: 1799

Kudos [?]: 9583 [0], given: 826

Re: On the number line, the distance between x and y [#permalink]

12 Jan 2013, 04:14

kiyo0610 wrote:

On the number line, the distance between x and y is greater than the distance between x and z. Does z lie between x and y on the number line?

(1) xyz<0
(2) xy<0

Merging similar topics. Please refer to the solutions above.
_________________

Re: On the number line, the distance between x and y [#permalink] 12 Jan 2013, 04:14

		Similar topics	Author	Replies	Last post
Similar Topics:	4	On the number line, the distance between x and y is greater	uvs_mba	6	01 Nov 2006, 23:09
		On the number line, the distance between x and y is greater	mbunny	2	04 Sep 2007, 18:26
		On the number line, the distance between x and y is greater	mexicanhoney	5	06 Oct 2007, 00:48
		On the number line, the distance between x and y is greater	marcodonzelli	4	28 Dec 2007, 10:23
		On the number line, the distance between x and y is greater	bsjames2	1	06 Jan 2008, 17:49

On the number line, the distance between x and y is greater

Main navigation

GMAT Resources

Partners

MBA Resources

GMAT ® is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admission Council ® (GMAC ®). GMAT Club's website has not been reviewed or endorsed by GMAC.

GMAT Courses

Admissions Consulting

On the number line, the distance between x and y is greater

On the number line, the distance between x and y is greater

Main navigation

GMAT Resources

Partners

MBA Resources