GMAT Math : DSQ: Calculating the length of the side of a right triangle

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Example Questions

Example Question #143 : Triangles

 is a right triangle with right angle . Evaluate .

Statement 1:  and .

Statement 2:   and .

Possible Answers:

Statement 2 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 1 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

Statement 1 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 2 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

EITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

BOTH statements TOGETHER are insufficient to answer the question.

Correct answer:

EITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

Explanation:

Either statement alone is sufficient.

From either statement alone, it can be determined that  and ; each statement gives one angle measure, and the other can be calculated by subtracting the first from , since the acute angles of a right triangle are complementary. 

Also, since  is the right angle,  is the hypotenuse, and , opposite the  angle, the shorter leg of a 30-60-90 triangle. From either statement alone, the 30-60-90 Theorem can be used to find the length of longer leg . From Statement 1 alone,  has length  times that of the hypotenuse, or . From Statement 2 alone,  has length  of the shorter leg, or .

Example Question #501 : Data Sufficiency Questions

The longest side of a right triangle has a length of .  If the base of the triangle is  long, how long is the other side of the triangle?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

This is a Pythagorean theorem question.  The lengths of a right triangle are related by the following equation:    In the problem statement,  and  Therefore, 

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