Carcass wrote:
If x + y = 7 and x – y = 3, then \(x^2 - y^2 =\)
A. -4
B. 4
C. 10
D. 21
E. 40
Kudos for the right answer and explanation
Question part of the project GRE Quantitative Reasoning Daily Challenge - (2021) EDITIONGRE - Math BookThe fastest approach (identifying the difference of squares) has already been shown by
Ks1859.
So, here's one more option.
Given:
x + y = 7
x – y = 3
Add the two equations to get: 2x = 10, which means x = 5
If x = 5, we can plug that value into either equation, to conclude that y = 2
If x = 5 and y = 2, then x² - y² = 5² - 2² = 25 - 4 = 21
Answer: D
Cheers,
Brent