Is |a| + |b| > |a + b| ?
(1) a^2 > b^2
(2) |a| × b < 0
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I thought the answer was B because the question does not ask for a specific value. (2) states that b is negative, therefore the question stem will always be correct.
OA is E
GMAT Forum
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- cindyqtran
- Kishore
drive from the property of the question
Note that |a|+|b| > |a+b| does not hold if both a and b are negative or a and b are both positive, in which case |a|+|b| = |a+b|; None of the conditions stated above hint us that a and b are otherwise. So the answer is E.
- RonPurewal
- Students
- Posts: 19744
- Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:23 am
Here's a more concise explanation.
The inequality in the question stem is equivalent to "Do a and b have different signs?" This is not easy to see, but play around with some specific positive and negative numbers and you'll notice the emerging pattern.
Statement 2 says that b is negative
Statement 1 says NOTHING about the signs of the two numbers
Even when the two statements are taken together, we don't know whether the signs of a and b match, because the sign of a is still completely undetermined. Therefore, the answer is E.
The inequality in the question stem is equivalent to "Do a and b have different signs?" This is not easy to see, but play around with some specific positive and negative numbers and you'll notice the emerging pattern.
Statement 2 says that b is negative
Statement 1 says NOTHING about the signs of the two numbers
Even when the two statements are taken together, we don't know whether the signs of a and b match, because the sign of a is still completely undetermined. Therefore, the answer is E.
4 posts Page 1 of 1