Distance from origin

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Distance from origin

by apex231 » Sun Dec 11, 2011 5:07 pm
In the rectangular coordinate system, are the points (a, b) and (c, d) equidistant from the origin?
(1) a/b = c/d
(2) sqrt((a)^2) + sqrt((b)^2) = sqrt((c)^2) + sqrt((d)^2)
Source: — Data Sufficiency |

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by Anurag@Gurome » Sun Dec 11, 2011 7:48 pm
apex231 wrote:In the rectangular coordinate system, are the points (a, b) and (c, d) equidistant from the origin?
(1) a/b = c/d
(2) sqrt((a)^2) + sqrt((b)^2) = sqrt((c)^2) + sqrt((d)^2)
Distance of (a, b) from origin = √(a² + b²)
Distance of (c, d) from origin = √(c² + d²)
They will be equidistant from the origin when these two quantities will be equal.

Statement 1: (a/b) = (c/d)
Implies, ad = bc
This is not enough to conclude whether (a, b) and (c, d) are equidistant from origin or not.

Not sufficient.

Statement 2: √(a²) + √(b²) = √(c²) + √(d²)
Implies, |a| + |b| = |c| + |d|
This is not enough to conclude whether (a, b) and (c, d) are equidistant from origin or not.

Not sufficient.

1 & 2 Together: Multiply the equation obtained from statement 2 by |d|.
=> |a||d| + |b||d| = |c||d| + |d||d|

Now from statement 1, ad = bc => |a||d| = |b||c|. Replace |b||c| instead of |a||d| in the above equation.
=> |b||c| + |b||d| = |c||d| + |d||d|
=> |b|*(|c| + |d|) = |d|*(|c| + |d|)
=> (|b| - |d|)(|c| + |d|) = 0

Note that for the ratio of statement 1 to be defined, b and d cannot be equal to zero. Hence (|c| + |d|) cannot be equal to zero. Which implies (|b| - |d|) = 0.

Therefore, |b| = |d|
This again implies |a| = |c| as |a||d| = |b||c|

This means the absolute values of the coordinates of the points are same. Which implies they are equidistant from the origin. This is because while determining the distance from origin we are squaring the coordinates and thus the sign doesn't matter.

Sufficient

The correct answer is C.
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by shubhamkumar » Mon Apr 09, 2012 12:41 pm
Anurag@Gurome wrote:
apex231 wrote: 1 & 2 Together: Multiply the equation obtained from statement 2 by |d|.
=> |a||d| + |b||d| = |c||d| + |d||d|

Now from statement 1, ad = bc => |a||d| = |b||c|. Replace |b||c| instead of |a||d| in the above equation.
=> |b||c| + |b||d| = |c||d| + |d||d|
=> |b|*(|c| + |d|) = |d|*(|c| + |d|)
=> (|b| - |d|)(|c| + |d|) = 0

Note that for the ratio of statement 1 to be defined, b and d cannot be equal to zero. Hence (|c| + |d|) cannot be equal to zero. Which implies (|b| - |d|) = 0.

Therefore, |b| = |d|
This again implies |a| = |c| as |a||d| = |b||c|

This means the absolute values of the coordinates of the points are same. Which implies they are equidistant from the origin. This is because while determining the distance from origin we are squaring the coordinates and thus the sign doesn't matter.

Sufficient

The correct answer is C.
:arrow:I like Mgmat 's approach. since |a|+|b|=|c|+|d|,a/b=c/d implies that the ratio of a to b is equal to the ratio of c to d, therefore |a|=|c| and |b|=|d|..could save a few seconds on actual day....

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by GMATGuruNY » Tue Apr 10, 2012 3:38 am
apex231 wrote:In the rectangular coordinate system, are the points (a, b) and (c, d) equidistant from the origin?
(1) a/b = c/d
(2) √(a²) + √(b²) = √(c²) + √(d²)
Statement 1: a/b = c/d
If the equation is 1/2 = 1/2, then (1,2) and (1,2) are equidistant from the origin.
If the equation is 1/2 = 2/4, then (1,2) and (2,4) are not equidistant from the origin.
INSUFFICIENT.

Statement 2: √(a²) + √(b²) = √(c²) + √(d²)
√x² = |x|.
Rephrasing the statement, we get:
|a| + |b| = |c| + |d|.
If the equation is |0| + |2| = |0| + |2|, then (0,2) and (0,2) are equidistant from the origin.
If the equation is |0| + |2| = |1| + |1|, then (0,2) and (1,1) are not equidistant from the origin.
INSUFFICIENT.

Statements 1 and 2 combined:

Let a/b = c/d = k.
Then a=kb and c=kd.
Substituting a=kb and c=kd into |a|+|b| = |c|+|d|, we get:
|kb|+|b| = |kd|+|d|
(k+1)|b| = (k+1)|d|
|b| = |d|, implying that |a| = |c|.
Since the x values in (a,b) and (c,d) are equidistant from the origin, and the y values in (a,b) and (c,d) are equidistant from the origin, the two points are equidistant from the origin.
SUFFICIENT.

The correct answer is C.

One take-away:
To evaluate each statement ON ITS OWN, I plugged in values.
To evaluate the two statements COMBINED, I applied algebra.
Many DS problems are best solved with this approach.
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