Ratio : Quant Comparison

GRE Quant Problem Solving
1

The following is a Quant Comparison Question.

“The ratio of 12 to x equals the ratio of x to 3.”

Quantity A: x vs Quantity B: 6

I had no problem of finding x^2 = 36. Thus, x = + or - 6.

Should -6 be considered in ratio problems ? Can the ratio of # of items be 12: -6 ?

I disregarded -6 with the reasoning that -6 technically would mean 0 zero items. Thus, I selected C.

But the answer choice was D considering both + 6 and - 6.

I would like to find out others’ thoughts on this ? Greg, what would be your recommendation ?

Thank you.

2

in gre when we are finding square root in “√” then we ignore negative symbol, but when we find square root like x^2=4, then we consider both - and + term.

3

Thank you. I will stick with the GRE rule.

Nonetheless,I find wordings in GRE very tricky.

When we compare ratios of two different items, can there be negative number of items ?