Question: Bit of Everything

Comment on Bit of Everything

How can we assume that it's an isosceles triangle. I didn't get it.
greenlight-admin's picture

We're told that AB = BC, which means ABC is an isosceles triangle.

Thank you

I took the transversal line to be BC but i guess that's wrong
greenlight-admin's picture

That's not wrong.

A transversal is just a line that intersects both parallel lines.

So, we can think of line AC as a transversal, and we can think of line BC as a transversal.

To better understand what I mean, take a look at these diagrams: https://imgur.com/il1eWke

Does that help?

Cheers,
Brent

Understood but looking at BC as a transversal doesn't give us enough data to solve so after realizing that we should look at the other transverals. Or do we have enough info to solve with the trasversal BC?
greenlight-admin's picture

To answer this question, we must consider the transversal (line) that points A and C lie on.

Hi Brent, how do we decide to choose the line that AC lie on as transversal (line)? As there are also 2 point of BC lie on if we choose BC as transversal (line). By using BC and I also got x=70 too. Could you help clarify? Thanks Brent
greenlight-admin's picture

Geometry questions typically have a wide range of possible solutions.
So the strategy is to start trying possible options to see if they work.
If they don't work, try another option.

noted thanks Brent

Have a question about this video?

Post your question in the Comment section below, and a GRE expert will answer it as fast as humanly possible.

Change Playback Speed

You have the option of watching the videos at various speeds (25% faster, 50% faster, etc). To change the playback speed, click the settings icon on the right side of the video status bar.

Let me Know

Have a suggestion to make the course even better? Email us today!

Free “Question of the Day” emails!