Math Question about distance from point t to line l

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1

<p>Question was distaNCE FROM POINT T TO LINE L:</p>

<p>cHOCIES:
3
4
5
6
7</p>

2

<p>it was whatever the vertical distance was… i think it was either 4 or 6 i dont remember</p>

3

<p>I said 5, which I think is wrong.</p>

4

<p>definately 4</p>

5

<p>4</p>

<p>10char</p>

6

<p>i put 5 because it was a 3-4-5 triangle. Also, you cannot assume the line from point t to line l is parallel to the other line, so it cant be 4. but you know you can make a triangle. can’t be 4 becuz that’s a very easy question then.</p>

7

<p>it is 4. end of story. for explanation read the other math discussion thread.</p>

8

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<p>I’m scared, I chose 4… But then 4 is based on the assumption that the lower angle is also 90 degrees.</p>

9

<p>I chose 5. I don’t see how one is supposed to know to assume that you are supposed to choose the shortest length. it just said what is the distance from T to L and 5 is an acceptable answer as well as 4.</p>

10

<p>Guys you can write <a href="mailto:satquestion@info.collegeboard.org">satquestion@info.collegeboard.org</a> about this question. I think the more people that write them the better. Maybe they’ll give both 4 and 5 and other choices a point for this one…</p>

11

<p>It is so 4!! omg</p>

<p>It isn’t calculus guys</p>

12

<p>haha i literally laughed out loud at this question</p>

<p>yes, the angle was 90 degrees and yes the answer was 4. this isn’t rocket science. the shortest distance was FOUR. end of story.</p>

13

<p>but the thing is… the question didn’t ask for shortest distance. it just said distance.</p>

14

<p>i agree…how are we supposed to know to draw it straight down???
wont it be too easy??</p>

<p>SATs always use pythagorean triples, this was one of those questions</p>

15

<p>do you think writing to college board will really work?</p>

16

<p>it was definitely 4, because, distance from a point to a line is defined that way. if you try to argue for ambiguity you’d have to fend off why the answer couldn’t be 6, 7, or even 5 million for that fact–because after all couldn’t you draw a line to the right for a few miles then come back to meet line L, because that’s distance right?</p>

<p>therefore it’s 4!!</p>

17

<p>^yea but 5 is creating a Pythagorean triple to the left not the right.</p>

18

<p>Yeah, it’s 4.</p>

<p>They just made it seem easy to trip up all the people who would think too hard about the question. I remember in Geometry, when we need to find the distance between a point and a line, we would always draw a perpendicular line from the point to the line and calculate the distance.</p>

19

<p>The question DID ask for shortest distance >>></p>

<p>And the right angles were marked… Either that or they said it was parallel, in which you can imply right angle if one is drawn.</p>

20

<p>@flysaex: The distance between a point and a line is defined as the shortest distance between that point and that line. If you think 5 is correct, so why not 6, 7, 8, or even 100 ;)</p>