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Is 'a' positive?
Statement 1: a - b > 0
Statement 2: 2a - b > 0
  • a)
    Statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked.
  • b)
    Statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked.
  • c)
    BOTH statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question asked, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question asked.
  • d)
    EACH statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question asked.
  • e)
    Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient to answer the question asked, and additional data specific to the problem are needed.
Correct answer is option 'E'. Can you explain this answer?
Most Upvoted Answer
Is a positive?Statement 1: a - b > 0Statement 2: 2a - b > 0a)Sta...
Understanding the Statements
To determine whether "a" is positive, we analyze both statements individually and together.
Statement 1: a - b > 0
- This implies that a > b.
- However, it does not provide any information about the value of "b." For example:
- If b = 1, then a could be any value greater than 1 (e.g., 2, 3).
- If b = -1, then a could be any value greater than -1 (e.g., 0, 1).
- Therefore, we cannot conclude whether "a" is positive based solely on this statement.
Statement 2: 2a - b > 0
- This implies that 2a > b, which can be rewritten as a > b/2.
- Similar to Statement 1, this does not provide enough information about "b":
- If b = 4, then a must be greater than 2 (a > 2).
- If b = -4, then a must be greater than -2 (a > -2).
- Again, we cannot determine if "a" is positive from this statement alone.
Combining Statements 1 and 2
- From both statements, we have:
- From Statement 1: a > b
- From Statement 2: a > b/2
- However, without knowing the specific values of "b," we cannot derive a definitive conclusion about "a."
- For example, if b is negative, both statements can hold true while "a" could still be negative.
Conclusion
- Since neither statement alone, nor both statements together, provide sufficient information to definitively determine if "a" is positive, the correct answer is option 'E': Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient to answer the question asked, and additional data specific to the problem are needed.
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Community Answer
Is a positive?Statement 1: a - b > 0Statement 2: 2a - b > 0a)Sta...
Step 1: Decode the Question Stem
Q1. What kind of an answer will the question fetch?
The question is an "IS" question. For "is" questions, the answer is "YES" or "NO".
Step 2: Evaluate Statement 1 ALONE
Statement 1: a - b > 0.
From this statement we can conclude that a > b. But we cannot gain any insight about whether 'a' is positive.
Here are two possible scenarios where the statement is true without helping us arrive at any conclusion.
Example: Both 'a' and 'b' could be negative and 'a' could be greater than 'b'.
For example, a = -5 and b = -10. a - b > 0. 'a' is negative.
Counter Example: Alternatively 'a' could be positive.
For example, a = 10 and b could be 3. a - b > 0 and 'a' is positive.
A counter example exists.
Statement 1 alone is NOT sufficient.
Eliminate answer options A and D.
Step 3: Evaluate Statement 2 ALONE
Statement 2: 2a - b > 0.
From this statement we can conclude that 2a > b. However, we cannot gain any insight about whether 'a' is positive.
Let us check out the following two scenarios.
Example: Let a = -3, b = -100, 2a = -6. 2a > b and 'a' is negative.
Counter Example: Let a = 10, b = 12. Therefore, 2a = 20. 2a > b and a is positive.
A counter example exists.
Statement 2 ALONE is NOT sufficient.
Eliminate option B. Choices narrow down to C or E.
Step 4: Evaluate statements together
Statement 1: a - b > 0.
Statement 2: 2a - b > 0.
Let us look at the following two examples.
Example: a = -3, b = -100 and 2a = -6. a > b and 2a > b. 'a' is negative.
Counter Example: a = 20, b = 15 and 2a = 40. a > b and 2a > b. However, 'a' is positive.
A counter example exists.
Even after combining the information in the two statements, we cannot conclude whether 'a' is positive.
Statements together are not sufficient.
Eliminate answer option C.
Choice E is the correct answer.
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Is a positive?Statement 1: a - b > 0Statement 2: 2a - b > 0a)Statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked.b)Statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked.c)BOTH statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question asked, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question asked.d)EACH statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question asked.e)Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient to answer the question asked, and additional data specific to the problem are needed.Correct answer is option 'E'. Can you explain this answer?
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Is a positive?Statement 1: a - b > 0Statement 2: 2a - b > 0a)Statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked.b)Statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked.c)BOTH statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question asked, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question asked.d)EACH statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question asked.e)Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient to answer the question asked, and additional data specific to the problem are needed.Correct answer is option 'E'. Can you explain this answer? for GMAT 2024 is part of GMAT preparation. The Question and answers have been prepared according to the GMAT exam syllabus. Information about Is a positive?Statement 1: a - b > 0Statement 2: 2a - b > 0a)Statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked.b)Statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked.c)BOTH statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question asked, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question asked.d)EACH statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question asked.e)Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient to answer the question asked, and additional data specific to the problem are needed.Correct answer is option 'E'. Can you explain this answer? covers all topics & solutions for GMAT 2024 Exam. Find important definitions, questions, meanings, examples, exercises and tests below for Is a positive?Statement 1: a - b > 0Statement 2: 2a - b > 0a)Statement (1) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (2) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked.b)Statement (2) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (1) alone is not sufficient to answer the question asked.c)BOTH statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question asked, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question asked.d)EACH statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question asked.e)Statements (1) and (2) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient to answer the question asked, and additional data specific to the problem are needed.Correct answer is option 'E'. Can you explain this answer?.
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