GMAT OFFICIAL GUIDE PS

Solution:

We are being asked to determine the length of RS. To determine this length we need to know the length from point R to the right angle in the given figure. If we label the point at the right angle as T, we see that we need to determine the length of TR.

If we draw a line segment connecting V and R, we will see that VR, VT and TR create a right triangle. Furthermore, we are told in the question stem that VR (the hypotenuse) is 10, and that one of the sides, VT, is 5, so we now plug these values into the Pythagorean Theorem.

TR^2 + VT^2 = VR^2

TR ^2 + 5^2 = 10^2

TR ^2 + 25 = 100

TR ^2 = 75

TR = √75

TR = √25 x √3

TR = 5√3

So TR is 5√3. We subtract this from the total length TS, which is 10, to determine the length from R to S:

10 – 5√3

Answer: A

About The Author

Scott Woodbury-Stewart is the founder & CEO of Target Test Prep. A passionate teacher who is deeply invested in the success of his students, Scott began his career teaching physics, chemistry, math, and biology. Since then, he has spent more than a decade helping students gain entry into the world’s top business schools, logging 10,000+ hours of GMAT, EA, GRE and SAT instruction. Scott also served as lead content developer and curriculum architect for the revolutionary courses Target Test Prep GMAT, Target Test Prep EA, Target Test Prep GRE and Target Test Prep SAT Quant.