<p>Two lines, A and B, which never interest, are both tangent to circle C. If the smallest distance between any point on A and and any point on B is 4 less than triple that distance, what is the area of circle C?</p>
<p>A) pi / 4<br>
B) pi<br>
C) 2pi
D) 4pi
E) 9pi</p>
<p>answers D. i drew this picture out but i don’t know where to go from here:</p>
<p>d=3d-4. So 2d=4, and thus d=2. Therefore the radius of the circle is 1, and the area of the circle is pi*1^2 = pi. So it looks like the answer is choice (B).</p>
<p>^Area of a circle is pi<em>(r^2), not pi</em>(d^2). It should be B as the first response said, unless OP made a typo.</p>
<p>^^To xiggi, I hardly think this is a ridiculous question. It calls on three simple concepts: parallel lines, meaning of tangent, and simple algebra.</p>
<p>Well, we can agree to disagree. I call it ridiculous because this question is typical PR garbage as it is excessively complicated and confusing, offers poor choices for answers, and does NOT even seem to suggest the correct answer. </p>
<p>Of course, it is possible that the OP did not reproduce the question correctly (as the term " never interest" might indicate. Perhaps, he or she missed the answer as well. </p>
<p>As far as writing questions that would help a student prepare for the “real thing” it is not sufficient to merely include “simple concepts such as parallel lines, meaning of tangent, and simple algebra.” That is why the synthetic tests produced by PR and similar outfits are best avoided. </p>
<p>However, none of this matter at all. Again, members of this forum have WASTED time discussing questions from PR. And the fact that it is a complete waste of time has been demonstrated over and over.</p>
<p>I mostly agree with Xiggi on this point. If you’re trying to optimize your time preparing for the SAT, then doing questions like this is inefficient. I would NEVER recommend using princeton review or kaplan materials for SAT math preparation. For this purpose I only use College Board questions, and questions I’ve created myself (which are indistinguishable from College Board questions). </p>
<p>However, the question posed by the OP is a perfectly reasonable, and perhaps even somewhat interesting math question. In that respect, it’s not a bad question, but for SAT prep it’s essentially a waste of time.</p>
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