V1, V2 are two rectangular tanks. Is total surface area of V1

Question

V1 and V2 are two rectangular tanks. Is the  total  surface area of V1  less  than that of V2?

(1) Height of V1 is same as that of V2.

(2) V1 has a square base. Area of base of V1 is same as that of V2.

DavidTutorexamPAL · Answer

To know the surface area, we need to know the areas of the 6 sides.
We'll look for statements that give us this information, a Logical appraoch.

(1) What are the areas?
Insufficient.

(2) What about the areas of the sides?
Insufficient.

Combined:
2 tells us the base and top have the same area.
The area of the sides is the height*length or height*width.
If V2 is also a square than V1 and V2 have identical length,width so identical surface area and the answer is NO.
Let's try making the answer a YES.
Say V1 has a height is 1 and the area of the base is 1.
Then V1 is a 1*1*1 cube and each side has an area of 1 so 4 sides have an area of 4..
We'll push V2 to the extreme: say its width, length are 1000 and 1/1000 (which gives an area of 1).
Then one of its sides has an area of 1000*1 which is certainly larger than 4.
In this case, V2 has a larger surface area. That is, the answer is YES.
Insufficient.

(E) is our answer.

V1, V2 are two rectangular tanks. Is total surface area of V1 < V2?

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Data Sufficiency (DS) Questions