[vande060]

in my book it says that for compound A proton a(Ha) and proton b(Hb) are not equivalent, and i get that.

but later the book says compound b has a nmr spectra with a singlet at 7.3 ppm, a triplet at 4.3, a triplet at 2.9, and a single at 2.0. the relative area under the curves are 5,2,2, and 3.

this would suggest that each hydrogen(Hx) of the ring is equivalent providing the singlet with an area under the curve of 5. why?

[MissPhosgene]

Maybe they meant multiplet instead of singlet? Sometimes aromatic peaks fall at just about the same chemical shift, depending on the ability of substituents to act as EDG/EWG. The peaks may not be distinguishable, but it's definitely not going to be a singlet if that is the correct compound. Chloroform falls at about 7.26, so maybe the spectrum was mislabeled.