DS-6

This topic has expert replies
User avatar
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 49
Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2014 1:18 am
Followed by:3 members

DS-6

by candygal79 » Fri Apr 04, 2014 12:52 am
In isosceles RST what is measure of < R

1) the measure of <T is 100

2) the measure of < S is 40

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 16207
Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC
Thanked: 5254 times
Followed by:1268 members
GMAT Score:770

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Fri Apr 04, 2014 1:31 am
candygal79 wrote:In isosceles RST, what is measure of ∠R?

1) ∠T = 100 degrees
2) ∠S = 40 degrees
IMPORTANT: In an isosceles triangle there are 2 IDENTICAL angles, and 1 LONE angle.

Target question: What is measure of ∠R?

Statement 1: ∠T = 100 degrees
We should recognize that ∠T CANNOT be one of the identical angles. If this were the case, we'd have two angles with measures of 100 degrees each, which would result in a triangle in which the sum of the angles is GREATER than 180 degree (which is IMPOSSIBLE)
So, we can conclude that ∠T must be the LONE angle, which means ∠R and ∠S are the two IDENTICAL angles.
Since the sum of the 3 angles must be 180, we can conclude that ∠R = 40, ∠S = 40, and ∠T = 100
Since we can answer the target question with certainty, statement 1 is SUFFICIENT

Statement 2: ∠S = 40 degrees
Here are two possible cases to consider:
Case a: ∠S is the LONE angle, in which case the ∠R = 70, ∠S = 40, and ∠T = 70
Case b: ∠S is one of the IDENTICAL angles, in which case we could have ∠R = 40, ∠S = 40, and ∠T = 100
Since we cannot answer the target question with certainty, statement 2 is NOT SUFFICIENT

Answer = A

Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
Image