BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Area of Triangle

Expert replies
by goyalsau » Thu Oct 14, 2010 4:49 am
If vertices of a triangle have coordinates (-2,2),(3,2)(x,y), what is the area of the triangle?

1. ||y-2||=1

2. angle at the vertex (x,y) equals 90 degrees
Saurabh Goyal
[email protected]
-------------------------


EveryBody Wants to Win But Nobody wants to prepare for Win.
Join the discussion
Source: — Data Sufficiency |

by neerajkumar1_1 » Thu Oct 14, 2010 8:10 am
see the attached figure...

points (-2,2) and (3,2) lie on a straight line...

statement 1)

|y-2|=1

this means y=3
or y=1

plotting either of these lines on the graph...
if one notices, any traingle drawn between the given 2 points and a third point on either of these lines...
will form a triangle with the same base and height...
since the base and height will be same... area will remain same for all and we can find it...

Sufficient...

statement 2)
doesnt solve anything by itself...

Pick A
Attachments
traingles.png
Join the discussion

by ksundar » Thu Oct 14, 2010 11:42 am
Yes. Area will remain the same. But without knowing what the x coordinate is, we will not know what the area of the triangle is. Shouldn't the answer be 'E' as we cannot find the answer even using the second clue?
Join the discussion

by nisha.menon294 » Thu Oct 14, 2010 6:23 pm
I think its E too ! OA?
Join the discussion

by Fatehdeep Singh » Thu Oct 14, 2010 7:46 pm
I do not think we need x coordinate.

Area =b*h/2

Base = Distance between (-2,2) & (3,2)
Height=1(in both cases as described clearly by neerajkumar1_1 in the diagram)

So you can find the area and as we know that area of the triangles with same base and formed within 2 parallel lines is same.
So definite answer can be found using A.
Correct me if i am wrong.
Deg Teg Fateh!!!
Join the discussion

by goyalsau » Thu Oct 14, 2010 8:19 pm
nisha.menon294 wrote:I think its E too ! OA?

OA is A,
Saurabh Goyal
[email protected]
-------------------------


EveryBody Wants to Win But Nobody wants to prepare for Win.
Join the discussion

by ksundar » Thu Oct 14, 2010 8:26 pm
The length of the second side can vary between 0 to 1 unless its a straight. If you know what the value of x is, you can probably use the 2nd statement to figure out the length of the two sides.

Please someone explain me how the area can be calculated, just for my understanding. I need some rest before I think about this again! :)
Join the discussion

by Fatehdeep Singh » Thu Oct 14, 2010 8:37 pm
Length can vary.But we need height.Height is the perpendicular drawn from the vertex to the base.So if your vertex is anywhere on the line(y=3 or y=1),perpendicular distance(distance between vertex and base) will remain constant(=1 in this case).
Deg Teg Fateh!!!
Join the discussion

by diebeatsthegmat » Fri Oct 29, 2010 8:01 pm
goyalsau wrote:If vertices of a triangle have coordinates (-2,2),(3,2)(x,y), what is the area of the triangle?

1. ||y-2||=1

2. angle at the vertex (x,y) equals 90 degrees
double absolute????
Join the discussion