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Sorry for digging this one out, GMATPrepNow

Where is the "6-x" stemming from?

Thanks!
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BigAdam
Sorry for digging this one out, GMATPrepNow

Where is the "6-x" stemming from?

Thanks!

Notice the dimensions at the very bottom of the diagram (showing the width of the large square).
We have x, blank, and 3

Now notice that the larger square has a height of 9 (3 + 3 + 3 = 9)

Since we're told that the entire garden is SQUARE, we know that the width = the height

In other words, x + ? + 3 = 9
Subtract 3 from both sides to get: x + ? = 6
Subtract x from both sides to get: ? = 6 - x

Does that help?

Cheers,
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This question is a major speed breaker and has a high chance of making a mistake, took me 4 mins to solve (got areas of few boxes wrong the first time). Any alternate approach to the ones mentioned on this thread ?

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sing086
This question is a major speed breaker and has a high chance of making a mistake, took me 4 mins to solve (got areas of few boxes wrong the first time). Any alternate approach to the ones mentioned on this thread ?

Bunuel GMATNinja

For an elegant and efficient approach to this question, check out this explanation by PareshGmat. I'm not sure that it's possible to improve on that solution for this particular question.

For whatever it's worth, if you saw this question on an actual exam and couldn't find an efficient solution path, it definitely wouldn't be worth fighting with the question for four minutes. Sometimes, the GMAT is all about picking your battles, especially on quant. For more on GMAT time management, check out this video.

I hope that helps a bit!
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Great visual explanation BrentGMATPrepNow, however not quite sure on the same shaded region that one side is 3x but the other side is 9? Could you help explain? Thanks
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Great visual explanation BrentGMATPrepNow, however not quite sure on the same shaded region that one side is 3x but the other side is 9? Could you help explain? Thanks

I'm not sure what you're asking.
Can you please rephrase your question?

I should note is that the numbers inside each box represent the area of that box (not the dimensions of the box)
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Thanks BrentGMATPrepNow for your quick reply. How did you derive numbers 9 inside those 3 boxes ? as the first 3 are 3 which make sense. Thanks
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Thanks BrentGMATPrepNow for your quick reply. How did you derive numbers 9 inside those 3 boxes ? as the first 3 are 3 which make sense. Thanks

Each individual box in the left hand column has width = x and height equal 3.
So, the area of each box in the left-hand column = (base)(height) = (x)(3) = 3x

Also notice that the middle column has width 6 - x
Also, each box in the middle column has height 3
So, the area of each box in the left-hand column = (base)(height) = (6 - x)(3) = 18 - 3x

Does that help?
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This is how I solved the question.

1) Among the 3 rows,
Black vs. White areas of above "two" rows are always the same,
whatever the length of X.

2) So I just calculate bottom row, especially just length only.
I don't try to calculate area and as height is all the same = 3.

3) equation: x + 3 (black) = 6 - x (white)

x = 1.5 (answer : C)
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