IMPORTANT: Since the 3 points are not on the same line, we know that the points create a TRIANGLE.Yaj wrote:Points A, B and C are not on a line. Is AB > 12?
(1) Side AC has length 36
(2) Side BC has length 18
Target question: Is the length of side AB greater than 12?
Statement 1: Side AC has length 36
This statement tells us the length of 1 side of the triangle.
This information alone is not enough to determine whether or not side AB is longer than 12
Since we cannot answer the target question with certainty, statement 1 is NOT SUFFICIENT
Statement 2: Side BC has length 18
This statement tells us the length of 1 side of the triangle.
This information alone is not enough to determine whether or not side AB is longer than 12
Since we cannot answer the target question with certainty, statement 2 is NOT SUFFICIENT
Statements 1 and 2 combined
We now know the lengths of two sides of a triangle. So, we can use the following rule:
(difference between known sides) < third side < (sum of known sides)
So, (36-18) < third side < (36+18), which means: 18 < third side < 54
Since 18 < side AB < 54, side AB must be longer than 12
Since we can answer the target question with certainty, the combined statements are SUFFICIENT
Answer = C
Cheers,
Brent
