JeffTargetTestPrep @avigordan BrentGMATPrepNow Bunuel EMPOWERgmatRichC what is the role of parallel her? No explanation here has clarified that? Can you tell me a case where the sides will not be parallel given the glass is a rectangle and given that it will cover the table top? EVen if it does not cover the table top, it can still be positioned parallel. And that is why which is the scenario wherein it CANNOT (ever) be positioned parallel given the above info?

IMO, it CAN ALWAYS be positioned parallel becaus eit is a rectangle and not parallelogram. EVen the diagram by Bunuel above is wrong

Hi Elite097,

It's possible that the original wording of the question has been tweaked over the years, but the detail of having the sides of the glass and the sides of the table must be parallel is ultimately irrelevant (as you can find the correct answer by TESTing VALUES). That having been said, the original author (when originally creating the question all those years ago) might have been trying to 'eliminate' the option that you could lay the glass diagonally over the table and still completely cover it.

For example, with a table that is 36 inches by 60 inches, if you place a piece of glass that is 59 inches by 59 inches - with the corresponding sides parallel - the glass will NOT completely cover the table (the glass would be just a little short along the 60-inch axis). However, if you rotate the glass a bit (meaning that the sides would NOT be parallel with the sides of the table), then the glass WOULD completely cover the table.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Contact Rich at: Rich.C@empowergmat.com
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EMPOWERgmatRichC I get your point and now that I think about it , it actually will still not cver the table because the area of the glass will be smaller than the top right? Pls clarify. Even I had a mild affinity to your reasoning before I realised this. Hence also pls give an answer to my previous question in this context

For glass greater than table top, there will always be a way to position parallely so we are only concerned with when dimensions are small but in that case it will never cover table top so what is the utility of introducing 'should be parallel' in the question stem