Official Guide Explanation:
Data Sufficiency #56

 

 

Background

This is just one of hundreds of free explanations I've created to the quantitative questions in The Official Guide for GMAT Review (12th ed.). Click the links on the question number, difficulty level, and categories to find explanations for other problems.

These are the same explanations that are featured in my "Guides to the Official Guide" PDF booklets. However, because of the limitations of HTML and cross-browser compatibility, some mathematical concepts, such as fractions and roots, do not display as clearly online.

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Solution and Metadata

Question: 56
Page: 277
Difficulty: 4 (Moderately Easy)
Category 1: Geometry > Triangles > other
Category 2: Algebra > Linear Equations-Two Unk >

Explanation: The angles in a triangle add up to a total of 180 degrees, so in this question, x + y + z = 180. Since we're looking for the value of z, we can set that equal to z: z = 180 - (x + y). Statement (1) is sufficient: given the sum of x and y, we can subtract it from 180 and find z. Statement (2) looks similar, but is insufficient. We could use it to solve for x, but not for z.

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