The base of a rectangular block has area 60 sq.cm. Is the block a cube?
1. The area of the front face of the block is 60 sq.cm
2. The area of the side face of the block is 60 sq.cm
Source: Kaplan
OA: [spoiler](C)[/spoiler]
Please explain your logic.
Cube or not
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- DanaJ
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Look at it this way: you have a rectangular block with length = a, width = b and height = c. What you need to do is prove that a = b = c.
Now, you start with the fact that its base is 60, meaning that ab = 60.
1. tells you that the front face is also 60, meaning that ac = 60 as well. So you have that:
ac = 60
ab = 60
The only extra info you have is that c = b, but we don't know if a is or is not equal to the the two. For all we know, b = c = 12 and a = 5. So 1 isn't enough.
2. basically is the same as 1, just with a bit of variation: here you have that bc = ab = 60, meaning that a = c. Again, it's not enough since you need to have a relationship between all three sides.
But put the two together and you get that:
b = c
a = c
This means that, in the end, a = b = c, making the rectangular block a cube. So C is indeed the answer.
Now, you start with the fact that its base is 60, meaning that ab = 60.
1. tells you that the front face is also 60, meaning that ac = 60 as well. So you have that:
ac = 60
ab = 60
The only extra info you have is that c = b, but we don't know if a is or is not equal to the the two. For all we know, b = c = 12 and a = 5. So 1 isn't enough.
2. basically is the same as 1, just with a bit of variation: here you have that bc = ab = 60, meaning that a = c. Again, it's not enough since you need to have a relationship between all three sides.
But put the two together and you get that:
b = c
a = c
This means that, in the end, a = b = c, making the rectangular block a cube. So C is indeed the answer.