If each of the segments marked on the board...

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If each of the segments marked on the board above is of equal length, and if x and y represents the indicated lines on the board, then what is the distance between x and y? (There are 12 inches in a foot).

1) The board is five feet long.
2)x is 18 inches from the nearest end of the board.

The OA is D.

Please, can any expert explain this DS question for me? I have many difficulties to understand why that is the correct answer. Thanks.

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by GMATGuruNY » Wed Nov 08, 2017 7:24 pm
swerve wrote:Image
If each of the segments marked on the board above is of equal length, and if x and y represents the indicated lines on the board, then what is the distance between x and y? (There are 12 inches in a foot).

1) The board is five feet long.
2)x is 18 inches from the nearest end of the board.
There are 4 segments between x and y.
Thus, to determine the distance between x and y, we need to know the length of each segment.

Statement 1:
Length per segment = (total length of the board)/(total number of segments in the whole board) = (5 feet)/(10 segments) = 5/10 = 1/2 foot per segment.
Thus, the length of each segment = 1/2 foot.
SUFFICIENT.

Statement 2:
Length per segment = (total length between the left edge and x)/(number of segments between the left edge and x) = (18 inches)/(3 segments) = 18/3 = 6 inches per segment = 1/2 foot per segment.
Thus, the length of each segment = 1/2 foot.
SUFFICIENT.

The correct answer is D.
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