Carcass wrote:
Attachment:
#GREpracticequestion In the rectangular.png
In the rectangular coordinate system, segment OP is rotated counterclockwise through an angle of 90° to position OQ (not shown).
Quantity A |
Quantity B |
The x-coordinate of point \(Q\) |
\(-1\) |
The two given coordinates (√3, 1) should remind us of the
special 30-60-90 right triangle.
If we draw a line from the point that is perpendicular to the x-axis, we get a right triangle.
This means we can apply the Pythagorean theorem to determine that the length of the line segment is 2.
At this point, we can see the special 30-60-90 right triangle hiding in the diagram.

When we rotate the line segment 90 degrees, the length of the line segment is still 2.

If we draw a line from the new point to the x-axis, we get another a right triangle.
More importantly, we can see that our new right triangle is also a 30-60-90 right triangle, which means it has the following lengths.

From here we can see that (-1, √3) are the coordinates of the new point.
The x-coordinate of the new point is -1, which means Quantities A and B are equal.
Answer: C
Cheers,
Brent