aznmexicana wrote:In the xy-plane, does the line with the equation y=3x+2 contain point (r,s)?
1. (3r+2-s)(4r+9-s)=0
2. (4r-6-s)(3r+2-s)=0
The equation of the line is y=3x+2, where x and y represent the coordinate of any point (x,y) on that line. For point (r,s) to be on the line, it must be the case that s=3r+2.
Rephrase the question as: "Is s=3r+2?"
Statement (1) tells you that
---> 3r+2-s=0 --> s=3r+2 OR
---> 4r+9-s=0 --> s=4r+9.
Because we don't know whether s is 3r+2 or 4r+9, we cannot answer the rephrase. Statement (2) works the same way. You must merge the statements to solve because once the statements are merged the only value of s that agrees with both statements is s=3r+2.
C is the answer.
You can view a much more detailed explanation and a step-by-step video solution at
GMATPrep Question 1088. To practice similar questions in timed drills, set topic='Geometry, Coordinate' and difficulty='600-700' in the Drill Generator
Hope that helped,
-Patrick
PS: This question is also discussed
here
