In the figure above, if x and y are each less than 90 and PS

Question

https://gmatclub.com/forum/download/file.php?id=16746 In the figure above, if x and y are each less than 90 and PS||QR, is the length of segment PQ less than the length of segment SR ? (1) x > y (2) x + y > 90 Figure.PNG

Bunuel · Answer

https://gmatclub.com/forum/download/file.php?id=12613 In the figure above, if x and y are each less than 90 and PS||QR, is the length of segment PQ less than the length of segment SR ? (1) x>y --> if the angles x and y were equal then the length of segment PQ would be equal to the length of segment SR (as PS||QR). Now, as x>y it means that point R is to the left of the position it would be if x and y were equal (previous case), or in other words, we should drag point R to the left to the position of R2 to make angle y less than x, thus making the length of segment SR bigger than the length of segment PQ . So as x>y than SR>PQ. Sufficient. (2) x+y>90 --> clearly insufficient: if x=y=60 then the length of segment PQ would be equal to the length of segment SR but if x=60 and y=45 then the length of segment PQ would be less than the length of segment SR. Not sufficient. Answer: A. untitled.PNG

tingle15 · Answer

Exactly the explanation given by Bunuel... +1 for A

KarishmaB · Answer

Note that the shortest distance between two parallel lines is the perpendicular distance. As the angle keeps decreasing, the length of the line keeps increasing. So if we know that x>y, then PQ < SR. Stmnt 1 Sufficient. Ques1.jpg Since statement 2 doesn't give any information about relative size of x and y, nothing can be said about PQ and SR. Not sufficient. Answer (A).

vjsharma25 · Answer

If the statement didn't contain the restriction about x and y(both are less than 90),then answer would have been "E".
Am I correct in this assessment?

Bunuel · Answer

Yes, if we were not given that x and y are each less than 90 then PQ and SR could be mirror images of each other and thus have equal length.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Hi there. I'm happy to help with this.

So, the lines PS & RQ are parallel, angles X & Y are each less than 90 degrees. Statement #1 tells us angle X is greater than angle Y. In the diagram, I showed an exaggerated example of this ---- if Y is a much smaller angle, it follows a less steep diagonal, which travels a longer distance between the two lines, as shown in the diagram. Therefore, if (angle X) > (angle Y), then segment RS is longer than segment PQ. Statement #1 is sufficient. (Notice that this logic depends on both angles staying less than 90 degrees. If X had a value greater than 90 degrees, it would start making a longer, less steep, line segment on the left side.) Statement #2 says only that the sum (x + y) is greater than 90. The trouble with that is: it doesn't give us any way to distinguish x vs. y --- either one could be much bigger than the other, or they both could be equal. No way to distinguish x vs. y ==> no way to distinguish RS vs. PQ. Insufficient. Correct answer = A Does that make sense? Let me know if you have any questions on that. Mike

gmatstrong · Answer

Hi guys,

I went through the task and argued similar we would have argued in a triangle.
The side which is opposite the smaller angle is also the smaller side. (in a triangle)
But here in a polygon this argumentation doesnt hold.

Because I thought SR is smaller than PQ because angle x is smaller than (180-y).

After reading your explanations I totally get your point, but I dont understand why we can't argue the same way we do with
triangles.

Thanks !

KarishmaB · Answer

First of all, think, which side of the quadrilateral is the opposite side to any given angle. Look at the diagram, the angle has 2 sides opposite to it (which don't form the angle). You can make one of the opposite sides smaller and the other greater at whim. So there is no defined relation between the angle and the opposite sides. Ques3.jpg

ucb2k7 · Answer

VeritasPrepKarishma  Can you elaborate this explanation from scratch. Not able to understand what all rules it is using concerning the parallel lines given. Cannot understand Bunuel's post.

Thanks!

ucb2k7

KarishmaB · Answer

You are given that PS is parallel to QR. The shortest distance between these two lines will be the perpendicular distance as shown by the solid line between them in the diagram above (https://gmatclub.com/forum/in-the-figur ... ml#p829762) Now as you turn the line towards the right (as shown by dotted lines above) the angle at the base keeps reducing. Consider two such lines PQ and SR. If the angle x is greater than angle y, it means PQ is less tilted than SR. So PQ is closer to the perpendicular line than is SR. So PQ is shorter than SR. Does this help?

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In the figure above, if x and y are each less than 90 and PS

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