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Retired Moderator
Joined: 10 Apr 2015
Posts: 6218
Given Kudos: 136
In the figure above, triangle XYZ is a right triangle.
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24 Oct 2021, 08:02
24 Oct 2021, 08:02
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Question Stats:
17% (00:48) correct
82% (00:31) wrong based on 35 sessions
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In the figure above, triangle XYZ is a right triangle.
Quantity A |
Quantity B |
b |
12 |
A) The quantity in Column A is greater.
B) The quantity in Column B is greater.
C) The two quantities are equal.
D) The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.
Retired Moderator
Joined: 10 Apr 2015
Posts: 6218
Given Kudos: 136
In the figure above, triangle XYZ is a right triangle.
[#permalink]
25 Oct 2021, 09:59
25 Oct 2021, 09:59
GreenlightTestPrep wrote:
In the figure above, triangle XYZ is a right triangle.
Quantity A |
Quantity B |
b |
12 |
A) The quantity in Column A is greater.
B) The quantity in Column B is greater.
C) The two quantities are equal.
D) The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.
I created this question to illustrate the point that the diagrams on the GRE are not necessarily drawn to scale.
So, even though we're told triangle XYZ is a RIGHT triangle, there's no way to be certain which of the three angles is 90° (even though ∠X certainly APPEARS to be 90°
Consider the following two cases:
Case a: If ∠X = 90°, then applying the Pythagorean theorem gives us 5² + b² = 13². Solve to get b = 12, in which case Quantity A = Quantity B.
Case b: If ∠Y = 90°, then applying the Pythagorean theorem gives us 5² + 13² = c². Solve to get b = √194, in which case Quantity A > Quantity B.
Answer: D
Cheers,
Brent
General Discussion
Re: In the figure above, triangle XYZ is a right triangle.
[#permalink]
25 Oct 2021, 02:29
25 Oct 2021, 02:29
Answer is C as 5,12,13 is a Pythagoras triplet.
