MathRevolution wrote:
Is m/n > 0?
(1) m + n > 0
(2) mn > 0
Target question: Is m/n > 0 Statement 1: m + n > 0 This statement doesn't FEEL sufficient, so I'll TEST some values.
There are several values of m and n that satisfy statement 1. Here are two:
Case a: m = 1 and n = 1, in which case m/n = 1/1 = 1 and 1 > 0.
So, m/n > 0Case b: m = -1 and n = 2, in which case m/n = (-1)/2 = -0.5 and -0.5 < 0.
So, m/n < 0Since we cannot answer the
target question with certainty, statement 1 is NOT SUFFICIENT
Aside: For more on this idea of plugging in values when a statement doesn't feel sufficient, you can read my article: http://www.gmatprepnow.com/articles/dat ... lug-values Statement 2: mn > 0 If mn is positive, then there are two possible scenarios:
Scenario #1: m and n are both POSITIVE
Scenario #2: m and n are both NEGATIVE
In scenario #1, m/n = POS/POS = POS.
In scenario #2, m/n = NEG/NEG = POS.
So, in both possible scenarios,
m/n > 0Since we can answer the
target question with certainty, statement 2 is SUFFICIENT
Answer:
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