Math questions and topics from the Official Guide book. Please try to follow the posting pattern (e.g. OG - pg. 181 - #8) to allow for easier searches. Questions posted in the GRE Math section regarding the OG have been moved here.
agha79
Students
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2011 3:57 am
 

OG Page 260 Problem 8 and 9

by agha79 Sun Oct 09, 2011 7:33 pm

i have no idea how to draw pictures so please can someone walk me through question 8 and 9 at page 260 of official guide?
tommywallach
Manhattan Prep Staff
 
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Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 11:18 am
 

Re: OG Page 260 Problem 8 and 9

by tommywallach Fri Oct 14, 2011 1:35 pm

Hey Agha,

The easiest way to think about Question #9 is that the hypotenuse is increasing by a factor of 3 when moving from the smallest triangle to the largest triangle, meaning both the base and the height of the triangle are increasing by a factor of 3 (the large triangle and the small triangle are similar, because they share angle D and a right angle, so their third angle must be equal as well).

So the original area a * b = 42, must become 3a * 3b = x, or 9ab = x. 9 * 42 = 378.

Another way you could do it is to drop heights down from point C and from point B. If you do this, you'll see that the triangle is going to divide into 9 separate triangles the exact same size as CDE (the original small triangle).

Make sense?

-t