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I have a question on: Statements One and Two Together:

As mention by Scott, from statement #2 we can conclude the either X&Y are both positive or X&Y are both negative. Therefore when combining the information with statement #1 stating that X must be positive why can't we definitively conclude that Y therefore must be positive.

A positive X&Y would allow you to conclude that z^2y would indeed be greater than 0

Can anyone shed some light on what I am overlooking?
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coolo
I have a question on: Statements One and Two Together:

As mention by Scott, from statement #2 we can conclude the either X&Y are both positive or X&Y are both negative. Therefore when combining the information with statement #1 stating that X must be positive why can't we definitively conclude that Y therefore must be positive.

A positive X&Y would allow you to conclude that z^2y would indeed be greater than 0

Can anyone shed some light on what I am overlooking?

From (2) we can say that y and z have the same sign, not y and x. From (2) we are also getting that xy is not 0. That's it.
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coolo
I have a question on: Statements One and Two Together:

As mention by Scott, from statement #2 we can conclude the either X&Y are both positive or X&Y are both negative. Therefore when combining the information with statement #1 stating that X must be positive why can't we definitively conclude that Y therefore must be positive.

A positive X&Y would allow you to conclude that z^2y would indeed be greater than 0

Can anyone shed some light on what I am overlooking?

From (2) we can say that y and z have the same sign, not y and x. From (2) we are also getting that xy is not 0. That's it.


I think you misread the explanation for statement two. The explanation for statement two states that y and z (not y and x) are both positive or they are both negative.
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AH! There in lies my issue! Great catch. Thank you!
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Hi Bunuel,

Please tag this under GMATPREP, thanks!
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Hi Bunuel,

Please tag this under GMATPREP, thanks!
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Added the tag. Thank you!
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Hi Bunuel ScottTargetTestPrep I got this wrong because I assumed if (x^2)y = z^3 then it must be that x = y = z. Thus statement (1) is sufficient because if x(y^2) > 0 then z^3 must also be greater than 0. Where am I going wrong?
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Contrra2
Hi Bunuel ScottTargetTestPrep I got this wrong because I assumed if (x^2)y = z^3 then it must be that x = y = z. Thus statement (1) is sufficient because if x(y^2) > 0 then z^3 must also be greater than 0. Where am I going wrong?

How did you go from (x^2)y = z^3 to x = y = z?

The question does not state any info where you can conclude that all three variables are equal. Sure you can set each one as '1' and the equation will hold true, but we don't have any information that states that.
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Not sure what I did wrong here, since x^2y > 0, I assumed Z^3 is also > 0, what did I do wrong here?
if 6 = 6, aren't they both the same sign?
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ashdank94
Not sure what I did wrong here, since x^2y > 0, I assumed Z^3 is also > 0, what did I do wrong here?
if 6 = 6, aren't they both the same sign?
­Note that we are given that \(x^2y = z^3\), while (1) says that \(xy^2 > 0\). Those two, \(x^2y\) and \(xy^2\) are not the same.

P.S. Worth noting though that such type of pure algebraic questions are no longer a part of the DS syllabus of the GMAT.­

­DS questions in GMAT Focus encompass various types of word problems, such as:

  • Word Problems
  • Work Problems
  • Distance Problems
  • Mixture Problems
  • Percent and Interest Problems
  • Overlapping Sets Problems
  • Statistics Problems
  • Combination and Probability Problems

While these questions may involve or necessitate knowledge of algebra, arithmetic, inequalities, etc., they will always be presented in the form of word problems. You won't encounter pure "algebra" questions like, "Is x > y?" or "A positive integer n has two prime factors..."­

­Check GMAT Syllabus for Focus Edition­

Hope it helps.­
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