Saturday, October 09, 2010

What is the value of y


 What is the value of y?
(1) 3|x^2 -4| = y - 2 
(2) |3 - y| = 11











Question stem : What is the exact value of y?

St. (1) : 3*|x^2 -4| = y - 2
y = 3*|x^2 -4| + 2
From this we can infer that y will be a positive value. That is, y > 0. However, we want to know the exact value of y.
Therefore, Insufficient.

St. (2) : |3 - y| = 11
(a) When (3 - y) > 0 ; 3 - y = 11 ; y = -8.
(b) When (3 - y) < 0 ; - (3 - y) = 11 ; y = 14.
Thus we can see that there are two possible values for y.
Hence Insufficient.

St. (1) and (2) together : y > 0 ; y = 14 or -8.
Obviously since y has to be greater than 0, it cannot be -8. Therefore value of y = 14.
Hence Sufficient.

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