Data sufficiency

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Data sufficiency

by Newaz111 » Sun Jul 05, 2015 9:03 am
In the xy-plane, the sides of a certain rectangle are parallel to the axes. If one of the vertices of the rectangle is (-1,-2), what is the perimeter of the rectangle?
(1) One of the vertices of the rectangle is (2, -2).
(2) One of the vertices of the rectangle is (2, 3).

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by [email protected] » Sun Jul 05, 2015 9:28 am
Hi Newaz111,

You might find it beneficial to draw a couple of quick sketches - they'll likely help you to answer the question faster.

We're told that a rectangle is drawn into the xy-plane and the the sides of the rectangle are PARALLEL to the axes. We're also told that one of the 4 vertices is located at (-1,-2). We're asked for the PERIMETER of the rectangle. To answer this question, we need to know the other 3 vertices...

Fact 1: One of the vertices is (2, -2).

If you draw the original point (-1,-2) and this point (2,-2), you'll end up with a STRAIGHT LINE. This gives us the length of 2 of the sides, but NOT the other two.
Fact 1 is INSUFFICIENT

Fact 2: One of the vertices is (2,3).

If you draw the original point (-1,-2) and this point (2,3), you'll end up with a DIAGONAL LINE. You can use this diagonal line to figure out the other 2 vertices (remember, the sides of the rectangle are PARALLEL to the axes).

The vertices would be (-1,-2), (2,3), (2,-3) and (-2,3) so we could calculate the perimeter (it would be 4+4+6+6 = 20, but that math is unneccesary).
Fact 2 is SUFFICIENT

Final Answer: B

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by nikhilgmat31 » Mon Jul 06, 2015 1:27 am
Great question. lines parallel to axes is the key to solve this question.