Question Pack 1 difficult geometry

This topic has expert replies
Source: — Data Sufficiency |

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 142
Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2012 3:24 am
Location: India
Thanked: 28 times

by mathbyvemuri » Thu May 10, 2012 9:37 pm
IMO "E"
statement(1)=> gives the slope of line AB, which is not sufficient to find the slope of BC
statement(2)=> gives the angle ABC, which is the angle between AB and BC. This alone is not sufficient.
Even if we consider both the statements together, it is not sufficient.
The key concept here is:
"A line is said to have a positive slope if it is inclined upwards from left to right and vice versa"
As the inclination between two lines could be in two ways corresponding to the orientation of one line with the other. line BC can be sloping-up from left to right or just in the reverse way. In both the cases it is possible to make an angle of 37 deg with line AB. So it is just not possible to decide whether the slope is positive or negative.
Last edited by mathbyvemuri on Thu May 10, 2012 9:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 385
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:40 am
Location: Pune, India
Thanked: 186 times
Followed by:29 members

(

by aneesh.kg » Thu May 10, 2012 9:49 pm
It is obvious that both the statements are NOT sufficient independently to determine the nature of the slope of BC.

Let's combine them.
(1)We have a line AB that makes 45 degrees with the negative X-axis but we don't know if A is on the top-left or B is on the top-left.
(2)Then a line BC has to make 37 degrees with AB. In each of the two cases above, BC can be drawn in two directions.

So, there are a total of four cases(as shown in the image below).

Image

[spoiler](C)[/spoiler] is the answer
Aneesh Bangia
GMAT Math Coach
[email protected]

GMATPad:
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/GMATPad

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 142
Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2012 3:24 am
Location: India
Thanked: 28 times

by mathbyvemuri » Thu May 10, 2012 10:04 pm
aneesh.kg wrote:It is obvious that both the statements are NOT sufficient independently to determine the nature of the slope of BC.

Let's combine them.
(1)We have a line AB that makes 45 degrees with the negative X-axis but we don't know if A is on the top-left or B is on the top-left.
(2)Then a line BC has to make 37 degrees with AB. In each of the two cases above, BC can be drawn in two directions.

So, there are a total of four cases(as shown in the image below).

Image

[spoiler](C)[/spoiler] is the answer
Kudos Aneesh, great explanation

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 242
Joined: Fri Aug 01, 2008 8:49 am
Location: Delhi
Thanked: 6 times

by ranjeet75 » Fri May 11, 2012 9:07 am
There is a formula regarding the angle between two lines:

tan�θ=±{(m_2-m_1)/(1+ m_1 m_2 )}

So, one angle and slope of one line is given then we can find the slope of other line.

Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 14
Joined: Fri Apr 13, 2012 9:46 am

by veenitj » Fri May 11, 2012 9:26 am
Didn't understand the explainnation by aneesh.kg. Can you please explani it again in detail. Also I cant see any picture attched to the post.

Thanks in advance.

VJ

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 385
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:40 am
Location: Pune, India
Thanked: 186 times
Followed by:29 members

by aneesh.kg » Fri May 11, 2012 10:50 am
You will understand it when you see the image.
Attaching it again:

Image
Aneesh Bangia
GMAT Math Coach
[email protected]

GMATPad:
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/GMATPad

Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 273
Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2011 6:50 am
Thanked: 5 times
Followed by:3 members

by fangtray » Fri May 11, 2012 3:09 pm
aneesh.kg wrote:It is obvious that both the statements are NOT sufficient independently to determine the nature of the slope of BC.

Let's combine them.
(1)We have a line AB that makes 45 degrees with the negative X-axis but we don't know if A is on the top-left or B is on the top-left.
(2)Then a line BC has to make 37 degrees with AB. In each of the two cases above, BC can be drawn in two directions.

So, there are a total of four cases(as shown in the image below).

Image

[spoiler](C)[/spoiler] is the answer
so the trick is to recognize right away that -1 slope gives a 45 degree angle against the Y axis.. great explanation Aneesh!