danjuma wrote:In the XY coordinate plane, lines L and K intersect at the point (4,3). Is the product of their slopes negative?
a. The product of the x-intercept of lines l and k is positive
b.The product of the y-intercept of lines l and k is negative
Looked into this problem when did GMAT Prep. It has been over-solved at the forum and comes pretty easy after finishing OG11.
Basically, you know what's the slope ... linear equation
y=ax+b where
a is a slope (direction, also unit change in y for every unit change in x) of the line and
b is intercept.
slope is derived by using formula = change in y over change in x or (y1-y0/x1-x0)
Question asks for the sign of value of the product of slopes i.e. +, -. We need to solve for individual signs of each slope and then will decide on the product sign.
To solve this problem and to answer a question we need to assign missing x values (x0 and x1, BTW x0 is x-intercept here) and locate missing y0 value or y-intercept. We are given in the problem x1 and y1 for both lines as they cross at the point (4, 3) hence x1=4, y1=3.
Now calculate the sign of value - you would need the sign for value in nominator (y1-y0) and denominator (x1-x0) for both lines. Two lines have identical x1 and y1 since they cross at point (4,3) we need to assign signs (+, -) for their x and y intercepts or x0 and y0. Only with the statements (1) and (2) taken together this is possible. So the answer is C.
