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 Post subject: In the figure shown, points P and Q lie on the circle
 Post Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 3:10 pm 
In the figure shown, points P and Q lie on the circle with center O. What is the value of s?
Image



A) 1/2
B) 1
C) Radical 2
D) Radical 3
E) (Radical 2)/2


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 Post subject:
 Post Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 4:53 pm 
OP = OQ
(1-0)^2 + (-sqrt3-0)^2 = (s-0)^2 + (t-0)^2
1+3 = s^2+t^2

s^2+t^2 = 4 ---------(1)


Since the lines are perpendicular to each other, product of slopes = -1
[(1-0)/(-sqrt3-0)]*[(t-0)/(s-0)] = -1
t/s = sqrt3
t = s*sqrt3
From (1), s^2 + 3s^2 = 4
s^2 = 1
Since (s,t) is in first quadrant, s=1


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 Post subject:
 Post Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 5:46 pm 
Good explanation! 1 is the correct answer.


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 Post subject:
 Post Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 4:12 pm 
I don't understand this explanation at all. Can someone help out?


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 Post subject:
 Post Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 9:26 pm 
GMAT Prep says the answer to this one is radical 3. I'm assuming they screwed up on this one and the correct answer is indeed "1". Can anyone help corroborate this? Thx!


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 Post subject:
 Post Posted: Sun May 11, 2008 9:33 pm 
Ignore the previous post. GMAT Prep says the answer is indeed "1." If someone can punch out an explanation that makes sense to those of us not fluent in PASCAL, it would be most appreciated!


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 Post subject:
 Post Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 5:39 am 
Offline
ManhattanGMAT Staff


Posts: 6765
bag wrote:
Ignore the previous post. GMAT Prep says the answer is indeed "1." If someone can punch out an explanation that makes sense to those of us not fluent in PASCAL, it would be most appreciated!


there is a very thorough treatment of this problem here.


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 Post subject: Re: In the figure shown, points P and Q lie on the circle
 Post Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:28 pm 
Offline
Students


Posts: 1
I am new to the forums. Seems this thread is quite old, so this query might have been further dicussed in some new thread.

I solved this problem using simple trigonometry. We know the radii = 2 = hypotenuse for the triangles. From given inormation we can find that the angle split is 60:30, so the side ratio ( x - cordinates) is sqrt(3):1

Thanks
Mahesh


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 Post subject: Re: In the figure shown, points P and Q lie on the circle
 Post Posted: Sat May 01, 2010 2:46 am 
Offline
ManhattanGMAT Staff


Posts: 824
You can do it that way. Although it might involve trig, you should be familiar enough with 30-60 right triangles to see how this works.

_________________
Ben Ku
Instructor
ManhattanGMAT


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 Post subject: Re: In the figure shown, points P and Q lie on the circle
 Post Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 7:16 pm 
Offline
Students


Posts: 2
My first post, attempting to give an explanation for those not fluent in PASCAL ;) I actually didn't understand this fully until I read that PASCAL code above, but then I realized a simple shortcut can be applied.

Here's the shortcut:

Since we have a right triangle we can leverage the relationship between the slop of the perpendicular lines PO and OQ, which is inverse negative.

Slope of PO is -1/Root(3) - (no need to simplify this.)
Thus the slope of OQ becomes Root(3)/1 or just Root(3)

Because we did not simplify PO's slope we know that our derived slope for OQ is exactly in terms of the units of the (x,y) points it belongs to as well (because radius PO = radius OQ)

So based on our new slope we have Root(3) increase per 1 unit of x... which puts Q (s,t) at (1,Root(3)) Thus s=1


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 Post subject: Re: In the figure shown, points P and Q lie on the circle
 Post Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 4:11 am 
Offline
ManhattanGMAT Staff


Posts: 6765
here's another thread on this problem, which has about a zillion trillion posts:
gmat-prep-geometry-2-t2493.html

i'm locking this thread; if you have any more questions on this problem (probably unlikely, after you read through all of the million zillion posts in that thread), please post them on that thread.


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