Question:The figure shown above consists of a shaded 9-sided polygon and 9 unshaded isosceles triangles.For each isosceles triangle,the longest side is a side of the shaded polygon and the two sides of equal length are extensions of the two adjacent sides of the shaded polygon.What is the value of a?
A. 100
B. 105
C. 110
D. 115
E. 120
GMAT Geometry questions can sometimes be tricky or at least they "appear" to be complicated like this one here.
But with a little practice, you can master these questions in no time.
In this post, we will discuss the properties of regular polygons and solve the official question asked here.
GMAT Geometry-Concept on Polygons:
Polygons are figures with straight sides and angles. The most common type of polygon is a triangle, which has three sides and three angles. Quadrilaterals are polygons with four sides and four angles. Polygons can have any number of sides, but the more sides a polygon has, the more complicated the question "appears".
A regular polygon is a polygon that has all sides and angles equal or else its an irregular polygon.GMAT questions about polygons can ask about the properties of specific types of polygons, or about the relationships between the angles and sides of polygons.
Some
common properties that are tested include:
The sum of the angles in a n-sided polygon is (n-2)*180 degrees and if its a regular polygon then each internal angle = (n-2)*180 / n degrees
The interior angles of a polygon add up to 360 degrees and if its a regular polygon then each external angle = 360/n degrees
Number of diagonals in a n sided polygon = n *(n-3)/2
Now, lets get back to our question.
Pls also refer to the
attached figure as you scroll down to understand the solution.
In the triangle ABC, side of the shaded polygon is BC, it is the longest side in the triangle and hence the other two sides that is AB & AC are the equal sides.
GMAT Track of thought 1- Angles opposite to equal sides in a triangle are equal.
So angle ABC = angle ACB. For simplicity, lets call it x.
What now? How do we proceed from here?
GMAT Track of thought 2 - Vertically opposite angles created by 2 intersecting lines are equal!
This implies angle DBE and angle GCF are also each equal to x degrees.
Since all the triangles are mentioned to be isosceles, let us apply the concepts of Angles opposite to equal sides in a triangle and Vertically opposite angles created by 2 intersecting lines to be creating equal angles.
Thus, all angles marked in black in the figure are equal.
GMAT Track of thought 3-For a pair of linear angles,if one angle is x,the other is 180-x.
I have used this concept and marked the linear pairs corresponding to the angles marked in black (in white).
They are all equal!!
What does this lead us to??
It says a lot of the polygon shaded in grey.
All angles marked in white are the internal angles of the polygon and are equal.
Hence,
the polygon is a regular polygon!
Using the concept that in a regular polygon each internal angle = (n-2)*180 / n degrees and substituting n=9,we have
Each internal angle (9-2) * 180 / 9 = 140 degrees. So all the angles marked in white are 140 degrees
This implies 180-x = 140 =>x (angles in black) = 40 degree
Thus the equal angles in the triangle ABC are 40 degree each
Hence the unequal angle or 'a'= 180- (40+40)
= 180-80
=100 degrees
(option a)Do you still think this question should be a 700 or was this figure an illusion?
Let me know in the comments below.
Devmitra Sen
GMAT Mentor
Attachments

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