How to find out if a point is on a line with an equation - GRE Quantitative Reasoning

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Question

Consider the lines described by the following two equations:

4y = 3x2

3y = 4x2

Find the vertical distance between the two lines at the points where x = 6.

Answer

Since the vertical coordinates of each point are given by y, solve each equation for y and plug in 6 for x, as follows:

Taking the difference of the resulting y -values give the vertical distance between the points (6,27) and (6,48), which is 21.

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Question

Solve the following system of equations:

–2x + 3y = 10

2x + 5y = 6

Answer

Since we have –2x and +2x in the equations, it makes sense to add the equations together to give 8y = 16 yielding y = 2. Then we substitute y = 2 into one of the original equations to get x = –2. So the solution to the system of equations is (–2, 2)

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Question

Find the point where the line y = .25(x – 20) + 12 crosses the x-axis.

Answer

When the line crosses the x-axis, the y-coordinate is 0. Substitute 0 into the equation for y and solve for x.

.25(x – 20) + 12 = 0

.25_x_ – 5 = –12

.25_x_ = –7

x = –28

The answer is the point (–28,0).

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Question

For the line

$y=\frac{1}{3}x-7$

Which one of these coordinates can be found on the line?

Answer

To test the coordinates, plug the x-coordinate into the line equation and solve for y.

y = 1/3x -7

Test (3,-6)

y = 1/3(3) – 7 = 1 – 7 = -6 YES!

Test (3,7)

y = 1/3(3) – 7 = 1 – 7 = -6 NO

Test (6,-12)

y = 1/3(6) – 7 = 2 – 7 = -5 NO

Test (6,5)

y = 1/3(6) – 7 = 2 – 7 = -5 NO

Test (9,5)

y = 1/3(9) – 7 = 3 – 7 = -4 NO

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Question

Determine the greater quantity:

or

Answer

$\dpi{100} \small BD+AC$ is the length of the line, except that $\dpi{100} \small BC$ is double counted. By subtracting $\dpi{100} \small BC$ , we get the length of the line, or $\dpi{100} \small AD$ .

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Question

Which of the following sets of coordinates are on the line $y=3x-4$ ?

Answer

$(2,2)$ when plugged in for $y$ and $x$ make the linear equation true, therefore those coordinates fall on that line.

$y=3x-4$

Because this equation is true, the point must lie on the line. The other given answer choices do not result in true equalities.

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Question

Which of the following points can be found on the line $\small y=3x+2$ ?

Answer

We are looking for an ordered pair that makes the given equation true. To solve, plug in the various answer choices to find the true equality.

Because this equality is true, we can conclude that the point lies on this line. None of the other given answer options will result in a true equality.

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Question

On a coordinate plane, two lines are represented by the equations and . These two lines intersect at point . What are the coordinates of point ?

Answer

You can solve for the within these two equations by eliminating the . By doing this, you get .

Solve for to get and plug back into either equation to get the value of as 1.

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Question

If the two lines represented by and intersect at point , what are the coordinates of point ?

Answer

Solve for by setting the two equations equal to one another:

Plugging back into either equation gives .

These are the coordinates for the intersection of the two lines.

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Question

Which of the following set of points is on the line formed by the equation ?

Answer

The easy way to solve this question is to take each set of points and put it into the equation. When we do this, we find the only time the equation balances is when we use the points .

For practice, try graphing the line to see which of the points fall on it.

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Question

Consider the lines described by the following two equations:

4y = 3x2

3y = 4x2

Find the vertical distance between the two lines at the points where x = 6.

Answer

Since the vertical coordinates of each point are given by y, solve each equation for y and plug in 6 for x, as follows:

Taking the difference of the resulting y -values give the vertical distance between the points (6,27) and (6,48), which is 21.

Compare your answer with the correct one above

Question

Solve the following system of equations:

–2x + 3y = 10

2x + 5y = 6

Answer

Since we have –2x and +2x in the equations, it makes sense to add the equations together to give 8y = 16 yielding y = 2. Then we substitute y = 2 into one of the original equations to get x = –2. So the solution to the system of equations is (–2, 2)

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Question

Find the point where the line y = .25(x – 20) + 12 crosses the x-axis.

Answer

When the line crosses the x-axis, the y-coordinate is 0. Substitute 0 into the equation for y and solve for x.

.25(x – 20) + 12 = 0

.25_x_ – 5 = –12

.25_x_ = –7

x = –28

The answer is the point (–28,0).

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Question

For the line

$y=\frac{1}{3}x-7$

Which one of these coordinates can be found on the line?

Answer

To test the coordinates, plug the x-coordinate into the line equation and solve for y.

y = 1/3x -7

Test (3,-6)

y = 1/3(3) – 7 = 1 – 7 = -6 YES!

Test (3,7)

y = 1/3(3) – 7 = 1 – 7 = -6 NO

Test (6,-12)

y = 1/3(6) – 7 = 2 – 7 = -5 NO

Test (6,5)

y = 1/3(6) – 7 = 2 – 7 = -5 NO

Test (9,5)

y = 1/3(9) – 7 = 3 – 7 = -4 NO

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Question

Determine the greater quantity:

or

Answer

$\dpi{100} \small BD+AC$ is the length of the line, except that $\dpi{100} \small BC$ is double counted. By subtracting $\dpi{100} \small BC$ , we get the length of the line, or $\dpi{100} \small AD$ .

Compare your answer with the correct one above

Question

Which of the following sets of coordinates are on the line $y=3x-4$ ?

Answer

$(2,2)$ when plugged in for $y$ and $x$ make the linear equation true, therefore those coordinates fall on that line.

$y=3x-4$

Because this equation is true, the point must lie on the line. The other given answer choices do not result in true equalities.

Compare your answer with the correct one above

Question

Which of the following points can be found on the line $\small y=3x+2$ ?

Answer

We are looking for an ordered pair that makes the given equation true. To solve, plug in the various answer choices to find the true equality.

Because this equality is true, we can conclude that the point lies on this line. None of the other given answer options will result in a true equality.

Compare your answer with the correct one above

Question

On a coordinate plane, two lines are represented by the equations and . These two lines intersect at point . What are the coordinates of point ?

Answer

You can solve for the within these two equations by eliminating the . By doing this, you get .

Solve for to get and plug back into either equation to get the value of as 1.

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Question

If the two lines represented by and intersect at point , what are the coordinates of point ?

Answer

Solve for by setting the two equations equal to one another:

Plugging back into either equation gives .

These are the coordinates for the intersection of the two lines.

Compare your answer with the correct one above

Question

Which of the following set of points is on the line formed by the equation ?

Answer

The easy way to solve this question is to take each set of points and put it into the equation. When we do this, we find the only time the equation balances is when we use the points .

For practice, try graphing the line to see which of the points fall on it.

Compare your answer with the correct one above

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