MGMAT Guide 3 EIV Chapter 12 Problem 9 - is x^3 > x ^2

[cyoo1987]

The question asks: Is x^3 > x^2?
(1) x > 0
(2) x^2 > x

I manipulated the question stem and got
x^3 - x^2 >0
x^2(x - 1)>0 (which tells me that x-1> 0)

Since I could not do much with statement 1, I manipulated statement 2 and got x^2 -x > 0 which i manipulated further to get x(x - 1) > 0. which tells me that x is positive.

if i multiply another x to x(x - 1) > 0 can it become x^2(x-1). and does it answer the question stem? (what im asking is - can the answer then be B?)

[tim]

first, the question stem does not TELL you anything; rather, it gives you some direction regarding what you are to look for. in this case, you have correctly determined that the question is asking whether x > 1. as for multiplying statement 2 by x, keep in mind that if x is negative this will change the sign, so you can't multiply by x unless you know that x can't be negative..