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If |a – b| = 2, what is the value of b?

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Bunuel
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If |a – b| = 2, what is the value of b? [#permalink] New post   06 Dec 2016, 00:48
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If |a – b| = 2, what is the value of b?

(1) b < 0
(2) a > 0
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E
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Zhenek
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If |a – b| = 2, what is the value of b? [#permalink] New post   06 Dec 2016, 01:39
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(1) no info about a
(2) no info about b
(1)+(2): leads to \(a = 2 + b\), which sadly doesn't give us anything. b = -1 and a = 1, or b = -0,5 and a = 1,5

E
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munnabhaimbbs
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Re: If |a – b| = 2, what is the value of b? [#permalink] New post   06 Dec 2016, 02:17
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Bunuel wrote:
If |a – b| = 2, what is the value of b?

(1) b < 0
(2) a > 0

E for me.

If the question had mentioned that a and b are integers along with the condition mentioned in the question,then would the answer be C(b has to be -1 and a has to be 1 in this case)
Experts please help.
Thanks
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yezz
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Re: If |a – b| = 2, what is the value of b? [#permalink] New post   06 Dec 2016, 02:29
Bunuel wrote:
If |a – b| = 2, what is the value of b?

(1) b < 0
(2) a > 0


a-b = 2 , when a>b and b-a = 2 when a<b

from 1

no info about a

from 2

no info about b

together

a>b

thus a-b = 2 , no idea about value of a thus b is not deductible ...E
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Re: If |a – b| = 2, what is the value of b? [#permalink] New post   06 Dec 2016, 03:26
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munnabhaimbbs wrote:
Bunuel wrote:
If |a – b| = 2, what is the value of b?

(1) b < 0
(2) a > 0

E for me.

If the question had mentioned that a and b are integers along with the condition mentioned in the question,then would the answer be C(b has to be -1 and a has to be 1 in this case)
Experts please help.
Thanks



Yes munnabhaimbbs. It would be C if the question included the clause "a and b are integers".

Detailed Solution : |a-b|=2=> a-b=-2 or a-b= 2

Individual statements are not sufficient.
If we combine both statements -- a>0 and b<0 then a-b can never be -2
for a-b =2,
if a and b are integers: there is only one possible case -- a has to be 1 and b has to be -1.
if a and b are not integers: there can be many cases -- a =1.7, b =-0.3 or a=1.8, b=-0.2.

So the answer of the above problem is E

But, if the question is |a-b|=2 where a and b are integers, then answer will be C
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prashantrchawla
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Re: If |a – b| = 2, what is the value of b? [#permalink] New post   06 Dec 2016, 04:08
As the question simply test our ability in modulus.
As it is not clear whether a or b are integer or not. This is how we can go ahead. Given, |a – b| = 2

Option 1: b < 0. There can be many values of b as we do not know about value of a. Insufficient.
Option 2: a > 0. There can be many values of a as we do not know about value of b. Insufficient.

Together we can value of a = 1.5, 1 and many more values in between
we can have value of b = -0.5, -1 and many more values in between. Hence it is not sufficient. Answer E.
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Re: If |a – b| = 2, what is the value of b? [#permalink] New post   10 Jan 2017, 06:25
munnabhaimbbs wrote:
Bunuel wrote:
If |a – b| = 2, what is the value of b?

(1) b < 0
(2) a > 0

E for me.

If the question had mentioned that a and b are integers along with the condition mentioned in the question,then would the answer be C(b has to be -1 and a has to be 1 in this case)
Experts please help.
Thanks


Not an expert though , but I must say a keen observation. I almost fell into the trap ! The answer as you pointed out must be E
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Re: If |a – b| = 2, what is the value of b? [#permalink] New post   10 Jan 2017, 16:04
nothing can be concluded from either statement, nor from both of them...
E for me.
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Re: If |a – b| = 2, what is the value of b? [#permalink]
10 Jan 2017, 16:04
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