X melts at a higher temperature than P melts. Y melts at a lower tempe

Question

X melts at a higher temperature than P melts. Y melts at a lower temperature than P melts, but at a higher temperature than Q melts.

If the statements above are true, it can be concluded with certainty that S melts at a higher temperature than Y melts if one knows in addition that

(A) Q and P melt at a higher temperature than Smelts 
(B) X melts at a higher temperature than Smelts 
(C) P melts at a lower temperature than Smelts 
(D) Q melts at the same temperature that Smelts 
(E) S melts at a higher temperature than Q melts

deepverma · Answer

Premise :  X melts > P melts > Y melts > Q melts
 Question:  How can S melts > Y melts ?
 Prethink:  When S melts > P melts  or  S melts > X melts 
 POE 
 (A) Q and P melt at a higher temperature than Smelts: Irrelevant
(B) X melts at a higher temperature than Smelts : Irrelevant 
 (C) P melts at a lower temperature than Smelts :Correct as Per Prethinking 
 (D) Q melts at the same temperature that Smelts : Irrelevant
(E) S melts at a higher temperature than Q melts : Irrelevant

KhulanE · Answer

Can someone pls explain me why C is correct? From my perspective, if C is correct then B can be correct.
Please review my explanation below.

True statement: X>P>Y>Q
True statement for S: S>Y, so it means that all possible melting temperature of S can be as the following options.
1. S>X>P>Y 
2. X>S>P>Y
3. X>P>S>Y

(A) Q and P melt at a higher temperature than Smelts
Since S>Y and Y>Q, then Q>S is impossible.

(B) X melts at a higher temperature than Smelts
X>S it means that above options 2. X>S>P>Y and 3. X>P>S>Y are possible, so we cannot tell exact melting temperature of S

(C) P melts at a lower temperature than Smelts
S>P it means that above options 1. S>X>P>Y and 2. X>S>P>Y are possible, so we cannot tell exact melting temperature of S.

(D) Q melts at the same temperature that Smelts
Since S>Y>Q, S=Q is impossible.

(E) S melts at a higher temperature than Q melts
S>Q this means that above all 3 options are possible.

Posted from my mobile device

scarletgirl · Answer

Strategy: Using a relative number line + treat like a data sufficiency question.
 
Let's try to draw out our skeleton number line using the question.
1) X melts at a higher temperature than P melts. =>  X will be to the right of P in the number line.

2) Y melts at a lower temperature than P melts, but at a higher temperature than Q melts. =>  Y will be to the left of P. Q will be to the left of Y.

--Q--Y---P---X--

=> This would mean S would be to the right of Y. But we don't know S's location with respect to P and X.

(A) Q and P melt at a higher temperature than S melts =>  --S--Q--Y---P---X-- => Is S to the right of Y? No. Incorrect.

(B) X melts at a higher temperature than S melts => --(S)--Q--Y--(S)-P---X => Treat this like a data sufficiency question. S will be to the left of X. But we don't know the relative position of S wrt to Y. S could be at the extreme left of the line, which would make our question stem untrue OR S could be between Y and X, which would make the question stem correct.  Since we don't have a definite Yes/No, this option is incorrect.

(C) P melts at a lower temperature than S melts. --Q--Y--P-(S)--X-- => S will be to the right of P, hence S will always be to the right of Y.  Correct: S will burn at a higher temperature than Y.

(D) Q melts at the same temperature that S melts. --(S)Q--Y--P---X-- =>  Since Q is burning at a lower temp than Y, S will also be burning at a lower temp than Y. Makes our question stem false. Incorrect.

(E) S melts at a higher temperature than Q melts. --Q--(S)--Y--P---X--(S) => A s with Option B, there are two positions of S relative to Y, which doesn't give us a definite Yes/No. Incorrect.

MrSengupta · Answer

The correct answer is (C). Took me a min and 30 seconds .

It can be easily solved if you have this diagram in mind : In the decreasing order of temp melting it is:
 P
 Y X somewhat here or lower
 Q

So if P melts at lower temp than S , that suffices that S melts at a higher temp than Y.

VerbalBot · Answer

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X melts at a higher temperature than P melts. Y melts at a lower tempe

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X melts at a higher temperature than P melts. Y melts at a lower tempe

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