dvk007 wrote:
If a, b, and c are integers and \(\frac{ab^2}{c}\) is a positive even integer, which of the following must be true?
I. ab is even
II. ab > 0
III. c is even
A. I only
B. II only
C. I and II
D. I and III
E. I, II, and III
Statement I. ab is even
GIVEN: \(\frac{ab^2}{c}\) is an
even integer
This means we can say that \(\frac{ab^2}{c}\) = 2k (for some integer k)
Multiply both sides by c to get: \(ab^2 = 2kc\)
We can see that 2kc must be EVEN, which means ab^2 must be EVEN.
If ab^2 is EVEN, then either a or b must be EVEN, which means
ab must be EVENSo
statement I is trueCheck the answer choices....ELIMINATE B
---------------------------
Statement II. ab > 0
Notice that, regardless of the value of b, we know that b² is POSITIVE (for all non-zero values of b)
This leads me to test some possible values...
If \(\frac{ab^2}{c}\) is a positive even integer, then it COULD be the case that a = 2, b = -1 and c = 1
Notice that \(\frac{ab^2}{c}=\frac{(2)(-1)^2}{1}=2\), which is a positive even integer
In this case, ab = (2)(-1) = -2
So, it is NOT true that ab > 0
So
statement II is NOT trueCheck the answer choices....ELIMINATE C and E
-------------------------------
Statement III. c is even
Notice that we can reuse the values we used above (a = 2, b = -1 and c = 1)
If c = 1, then c is NOT even
So
statement III is NOT trueCheck the answer choices....ELIMINATE D
The correct answer is A
Cheers,
Brent