The graph displays experimental data relating the surface area of

Question

https://gmatclub.com/forum/download/file.php?id=74953 The graph displays experimental data relating the surface area of a snow shovel’s blade, in hundreds of square centimeters (100 cm2), to the time to fatigue : the minimum number of hours of snow shoveling until a healthy adult feels too fatigued to continue. The line shown is a trendline corresponding to the data.From each drop-down menu, select the option that creates the most accurate statement based on the information provided. The data point for which the distance to the trendline is greatest corresponds to a shovel-blade surface area that is approximately GRAPH_1_PLACEHOLDER cm^2 . According to the trendline, each 0.1-hour decrease in time to fatigue corresponds to an increase in shovel-blade surface area that is approximately GRAPH_2_PLACEHOLDER cm^2 . ID: 100323 Surface Area of a Shovel Blade.png

egmat · Accepted Answer

This question is one of the easier ones. It may appear to be difficult because of the language and context, but is as such easy once you read it properly with the mindset to own the dataset.

Translation of statement 2 using strategic pausing technique

While statement 1 is much easier to handle, statement 2 requires some effort – need to understand what the question is asking and then determine the approach and then execute the approach carefully.
 
 According to the trendline
 
 Implies that we need to look at the trendline and not the individual points.   
 Each 0.1-hour decrease in time to fatigue
 
 Implies that we need to see y-axis change of 0.1hr   
 Corresponds to an increase in shovel-blade surface area that is
 
 Implies that we need to read x-axis change corresponding to the two points that show 0.1hr decrease.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvpDBYfXgfQ

Observe how once we understood the dataset, we could do this translation as we read each part of the question statement one at a time – we are applying strategic pausing technique that e-GMAT students learn in the Master Comprehension course.

Tactical Decision - how to extract information from the graph

Next, when we look at the graph to execute the approach, we make a tactical decision to look for decrease such that we can read the exact datapoints on the graph. This prevents us from making any estimation errors. See this part in detail at 2:54 mark in the video.

So overall, apart from the “owning the dataset” and “translate process skill” learnings, one specific learning from this question is as follows:

Judiciously selecting the data points on the chart to prevent any estimation mistakes.

GMATCoachBen · Answer

Video solution here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd0_KoBEtEc

nikitathegreat · Answer

How do we know that the proportion will remain same for all the values? Is it because the question has asked in such a way that for every 0.1 decrease how much will be the increase?
Thanks

cheshire · Answer

I'm not sure what you mean by proportion but the question is asking for you to estimate the increase in shovel surface area for every 0.1 decrease in hours.

dhruv23320 · Answer

For all of you who like me think that the second option answer should be 100 cm square, please pay attention to the part which says, according to the trendline. That means we need to concentrate on any 2 points on the trendline and not some random 2 points.

The graph displays experimental data relating the surface area of

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GMAT Graphs and Tables (G&T) Questions

The graph displays experimental data relating the surface area of

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