GMAT Math : GMAT Quantitative Reasoning

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GMAT Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #23 : Lines

Lines_4

Note: You may assume that  and  are not parallel lines, but you may not assume that  and  are parallel lines unless it is specifically stated.

Refer to the above diagram. Is the sum of the measures of  and  less than, equal to, or greater than ?

Statement 1: There exists a point  such that  lies on  and  lies on .

Statement 2: Quadrilateral  is not a trapezoid.

Possible Answers:

Statement 2 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 1 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

BOTH statements TOGETHER are insufficient to answer the question. 

EITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

Statement 1 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 2 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

Correct answer:

Statement 1 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 2 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

Explanation:

Assume Statement 1 alone. Since  exists and includes ,   and  are one and the same—and this is . Similarly,  is . This means that  and  have a point of intersection, which is . Since  falls between  and  and  falls between  and , the lines intersect on the side of  that includes points  and . By Euclid's Fifth Postulate, the sum of the measures of  and  is less than .

Assume Statement 2 alone. Since it is given that , the other two sides,  and  are parallel if and only if Quadrilateral  is a trapezoid, which it is not. Therefore,   and  are not parallel, and the sum of the degree measures of same-side interior angles   and  is not equal to . However, without further information, it is impossible to determine whether the sum of the measures is less than or greater than .

Example Question #135 : Data Sufficiency Questions

Lines_3

Note: Figure NOT drawn to scale.

Refer to the above figure. Evaluate .

Statement 1: 

Statement 2: 

Possible Answers:

Statement 2 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 1 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

EITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

BOTH statements TOGETHER are insufficient to answer the question. 

Statement 1 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 2 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

Correct answer:

Statement 1 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 2 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

Explanation:

Assume Statement 1 alone.  and  are congruent legs of right triangle , so their acute angles, one of which is , measure  and  form a pair of vertical, and consequently, congruent, angles, so .

Statement 2 alone gives insufficient information, as  and  has no particular relationship that would lead to an arithmetic relationship between their angle measures.

Example Question #25 : Lines

Lines_3

Note: Figure NOT drawn to scale.

Refer to the above diagram. What is the measure of  ?

Statement 1:  is an equilateral triangle.

Statement 2: 

Possible Answers:

Statement 2 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 1 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

EITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

Statement 1 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 2 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

BOTH statements TOGETHER are insufficient to answer the question. 

Correct answer:

BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

Explanation:

, and  together form a straight angle, so their measures total ; therefore,

Assume Statement 1 alone. The angles of an equilateral triangle all measure , so  and  form a pair of vertical angles, so they are congruent, and consequently, . Therefore,

But with no further information,  cannot be calculated.

Assume Statement 2 alone. It follows that 

Again, with no further information,  cannot be calculated.

Assume both statements to be true.  as a result of Statement 1, and  from Statement 2, so

Example Question #141 : Data Sufficiency Questions

Lines_3

Note: Figure NOT drawn to scale.

Refer to the above figure. Evaluate .

Statement 1: 

Statement 2: 

Possible Answers:

BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

Statement 2 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 1 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

Statement 1 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 2 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

BOTH statements TOGETHER are insufficient to answer the question. 

EITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

Correct answer:

BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

Explanation:

Assume Statement 1 alone. , and  together form a straight angle, so their degree measures total 

Without further information, no other angle measures, including that of , can be found.

Assume Statement 2 alone. , and  together form a straight angle, so their degree measures total 

Without further information, no other angle measures, including that of , can be found.

However, if both statements are assumed to be true, it follows from Statements 2 and 1 respectively, as seen before, that  and , so

.

Example Question #27 : Lines

Lines_3

Note: Figure NOT drawn to scale.

Refer to the above figure. Give the measure of .

Statement 1: 

Statement 2: 

Possible Answers:

BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

BOTH statements TOGETHER are insufficient to answer the question. 

EITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

Statement 2 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 1 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

Statement 1 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 2 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

Correct answer:

BOTH statements TOGETHER are insufficient to answer the question. 

Explanation:

Assume both statements to be true. We show that the two statements provide insufficient information by exploring two scenarios:

Case 1: 

 and  are vertical from  and , respectively, so  and , and 

 

Case 2: 

 

The conditions of both statements are met, but  assumes a different value in each scenario.

Example Question #28 : Lines

Lines_3

Note: Figure NOT drawn to scale.

Refer to the above diagram. Evaluate .

Statement 1: 

Statement 2: 

Possible Answers:

BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

Statement 1 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 2 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

Statement 2 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 1 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

EITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

BOTH statements TOGETHER are insufficient to answer the question. 

Correct answer:

BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

Explanation:

Assume Statement 1 alone.  , and  together form a straight angle, so their measures total ; therefore,

However, without any further information, we cannot determine the sum of the measures of  and .

Assume Statement 2 alone.  , and  together form a straight angle, so their measures total ; therefore,

Again, without any further information, we cannot determine the sum of the measures of  and .

Assume both statements are true. Since the measures of  and  can be calculated from Statements 1 and 2, respectively. We can add them:

Example Question #29 : Lines

Lines_3

Note: Figure NOT drawn to scale.

Refer to the above diagram. Evaluate .

Statement 1: 

Statement 2:  is an equilateral triangle.

Possible Answers:

BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

Statement 2 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 1 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

EITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

Statement 1 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 2 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

BOTH statements TOGETHER are insufficient to answer the question. 

Correct answer:

EITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

Explanation:

Assume Statement 1 alone.  and  are a pair of vertical angles, as are  and . Therefore, 

 

By substitution,

.

Assume Statement 2 alone. The angles of an equilateral triangle all measure , so .

,  , and  together form a straight angle, so , 

Example Question #1 : Dsq: Understanding Intersecting Lines

Lines

Refer to the above figure. Jane chose one of the line segments shown in the above diagram but she will not reveal which one. Which one did she choose?

Statement 1: One of the endpoints of the line segment is .

Statement 2: The line segment includes .

Possible Answers:

Statement 1 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 2 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

BOTH statements TOGETHER are insufficient to answer the question.

Statement 2 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 1 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.

BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient to answer the question, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

EITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.

Correct answer:

BOTH statements TOGETHER are insufficient to answer the question.

Explanation:

If we know both statements, then we know that the segment can be either  or , since each has endpoint  and each includes ; we can not eliminate either, however.

Example Question #2 : Dsq: Understanding Intersecting Lines

How many times does  and  intersect?

I)  is a linear equation with a slope of .

II)  is quadratic equation with a vertex at .

Possible Answers:

Neither statement is sufficient to answer the question. More information is needed.

Either statement is sufficient to answer the question.

Statement I is sufficient to answer the question, but statement II is not sufficient to answer the question.

Statement II is sufficient to answer the question, but statement I is not sufficient to answer the question.

Both statements are needed to answer the question.

Correct answer:

Neither statement is sufficient to answer the question. More information is needed.

Explanation:

When we have a linear equation and a quadratic equation there are only so many times they can intersect. They can intersect 0 times, once, or twice.

I) Gives us the slope of one equation.

II) Gives us the vertex of our quadratic equation. 

If you draw a picture, it should be apparent that we don't have enough information to know exactly how many times they intersect. Our quadratic could be facing up or down, and our linear equation could go straight through both arms, or it could miss it entirely. Therfore, neither statement is sufficient.

Example Question #3 : Dsq: Understanding Intersecting Lines

Find the 4 angles created by the two intersecting lines.

Statement 1:  and 

Statement 2:   and 

 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Statement 1:  and 

The line  is a horizontal line on the x-axis.  The line  is a vertical line graphed along the y-axis.  The lines will create perpendicular angles, which are all 90 degrees. 

Statement 2:   and 

These two functions are in  form, which allows us to determine the slopes of these functions.  The slopes are 2 and negative half, which are both the negative reciprocal to each other.  The property of negative reciprocal slopes state that these two lines are also perpendicular to each other.

Therefore:

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