Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Is Z an integer?

Is Z an integer?
A) Z^3 is an integer
B) 3Z is an integer














statement (1)

all we know is that z^3 is AN INTEGER. in particular, we can't deduce that z^3 is a perfect cube.

if z^3 is a PERFECT CUBE, such as 1, 8, or 27, then z will be an integer.
if z^3 is NOT a perfect cube, such as 2, 3, 4, etc., then z will NOT be an integer.

therefore, INSUFFICIENT.

(notice that you can easily find this by PLUGGING IN NUMBERS. in fact, the very first two positive integers, 1 and 2, give "yes" and "no" respectively, so that's a clear "insufficient".)

if we assume that z^3 is a perfect cube, then we're assuming that z is an integer. if we make that (totally unfounded) assumption, then we shouldn't be surprised when we find a specious answer of "yes".

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statement (2) is insufficient for exactly the reasons you have cited.

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together is actually SUFFICIENT.

here's what i think is the easiest way to consider this:

* consider all the numbers that satisfy statement (2):
1/3, 2/3, 1, 4/3, 5/3, 2, etc.

* of these, the only ones that satisfy statement (1) as well are 1, 2, 3, ...
(all the fractional ones will still be fractions when you cube them)

* since these - the numbers that satisfy BOTH statements - are all integers, we have TOGETHER = SUFFICIENT.

answer = (c)

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