Question

What do you know to be true about the values of a and b​

Answer 1

9514 1404 393

Answer:

  D.  Can't be determined

Step-by-step explanation:

You know that the sum of angles in a triangle is 180°, so ...

  a + x + 60 = 180

  b + y + 40 = 180

Then the difference between 'a' and 'b' is ...

  a - b = (120 -x) -(140 -y) = y -x -20

Since the values of x and y are unknown, the relative values of a and b cannot be determined.

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Additional comment

If you know the triangles are similar (or congruent) and that the relative angle sizes are as they appear to be, then you could say a=b. There is nothing in this problem statement to indicate that is the case.