XY Plane Problem OG 12 75

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EMAN: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 162; Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2009 4:17 pm; Location: Minnesota; Thanked: 1 times

XY Plane Problem OG 12 75

by EMAN » Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:24 pm

In the xy-plane, the line with equation ax + by + c = 0, where abc is not equal to zero, has a slope of 2/3rds. What is the value of b?

(1)a = 4
(2)c = -6

Someone please help me with this problem. Is there a better way to solve this than rewriting the equation in y = mx + b form and plugging in 2/3 for the missing slope?

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Data Sufficiency | Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:24 pm

umaa: Legendary Member; Posts: 727; Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2008 9:32 pm; Thanked: 8 times; Followed by:1 members

Re: XY Plane Problem OG 12 75

by umaa » Sun Oct 04, 2009 6:03 pm

EMAN wrote:In the xy-plane, the line with equation ax + by + c = 0, where abc is not equal to zero, has a slope of 2/3rds. What is the value of b?

(1)a = 4
(2)c = -6

Someone please help me with this problem. Is there a better way to solve this than rewriting the equation in y = mx + b form and plugging in 2/3 for the missing slope?

I don't know if there is a better way other than rewriting the equation in y = mx+c form.

ax+by+c = 0
y = -a/bx-c/b

Slope - -a/b
We know slope = 2/3 from the question.

-a/b = 2/3
Statement 1:
a = 4; From that we can identify b

Statement 2:
c = -6. WEe can't find b from this info.

IMO A

OA pls

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