All GMAT Math Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #153 : Triangles
Given: Rectangles and with diagonals and , respectively.
True or false:
Statement 1: Rectangles and are both rhombuses.
Statement 2: Rectangles and are both squares.
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.
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 rectangles, by definition, have four right angles.
A rhombus is a quadrilateral with four sides of equal length. A square is a quadrilateral with four right angles and four sides of equal length. Therefore, the two statements are actually equivalent in this context, so either they together provide insufficient information, or either alone does. We show that the latter is the case.
If both statements are true, and the rectangles are rhombuses and squares, then
and .
Consequently,
.
,
so by the Side-Angle-Side Similarity Theorem, .
Example Question #11 : Dsq: Calculating Whether Right Triangles Are Similar
Note: Figure NOT drawn to scale.
Refer to the above figure, which shows two right triangles circumscribed by circles.
True or false:
Statement 1: The area of the circle that circumscribes is four times the that of the circle that circumscribes .
Statement 2:
EITHER statement ALONE is 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.
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 sufficient to answer the question, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.
Assume Statement 1 alone. The area of the circle that circumscribes is four times the that of the circle that circumscribes , so the radius of the former is the square root of this, or two, times the radius of the latter; therefore, the ratio of the diameters of the circles is also two. Since in a right triangle inscribed inside a circle, the hypotenuse must be a diameter of that circle,
or
However, no other information is given or can be determined about any other sides or angles, so the triangles cannot been proved or disproved to be similar.
Assume Statement 2 alone. , or , but again, no other information is given or can be determined about any other sides or angles, so the triangles have not been proved or disproved to be similar.
Now assume both statements. , setting up the conditions for the Hypotenuse-Leg Similarity Theorem; it follows that .
Example Question #51 : Right Triangles
Note: Figure NOT drawn to scale.
Refer to the above figure. True or false: .
Statement 1:
Statement 2:
EITHER statement ALONE is 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.
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.
Statement 1 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 2 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.
Assume Statement 1 alone. If , then corresponding angles are congruent - specifically, . Statement 1 directly contradicts this, so .
Statement 2 alone does not prove or disprove similarity, since information is only given about one set of corresponding sides. No information is given about corresponding angles, or any other set of corresponding sides.
Example Question #12 : Dsq: Calculating Whether Right Triangles Are Similar
Given: and , where and are right angles.
True or false:
Statement 1:
Statement 2:
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.
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.
Statement 2 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 1 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.
Similarity of two triangles does not require that corresponding sides be congruent - only that they be in proportion. Therefore, the inequality of one pair of corresponding sides, as given in Statement 1 alone, is insufficient to prove or disprove that .
However, similarity of two triangles requires that all three pairs of corresponding angles be congruent. Therefore, Statement 2 alone, which establishes that one such pair is noncongruent, proves that .
Example Question #13 : Dsq: Calculating Whether Right Triangles Are Similar
Given: Rectangles and with diagonals and , respectively.
True or false:
Statement 1: Of the two rectangles, only Rectangle is a rhombus.
Statement 2:
EITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.
BOTH statements TOGETHER are insufficient to answer the question.
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.
Statement 1 ALONE is sufficient to answer the question, but Statement 2 ALONE is NOT sufficient to answer the question.
Assume Statement 1 alone. Rectangle is not a rhombus, so or . Rectangle is a rhombus, so . Therefore, either
or
Either way, the corresponding sides are not in proportion; it follows that .
Assume Statement 2 alone. No information is given about , so the quantities and cannot be proved to be equal or unequal. If they are unequal, since the sides are not in proportion, it follows that . If they are equal, then, since , it follows by the Side-Angle-Side similarity Theorem that .
Example Question #14 : Dsq: Calculating Whether Right Triangles Are Similar
Note: Figure NOT drawn to scale.
Refer to the above figure. True or false: .
Statement 1: Quadrilateral is a trapezoid.
Statement 2:
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.
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.
EITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.
Assume Statement 1 alone. Since Quadrilateral is a trapezoid, it follows that ; by the Corresponding Angles Principle, . By reflexivity, . By the Angle-Angle Postulate, .
Assume Statement 2 alone.
Also, by reflexivity, . By the Side-Angle-Side Similarity Theorem, it follows that .
Example Question #15 : Dsq: Calculating Whether Right Triangles Are Similar
Note: Figure NOT drawn to scale.
Refer to the above diagram.
True or false:
Statement 1: Arcs and have the same degree measure.
Statement 2: Arcs and have the same degree measure.
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.
EITHER statement ALONE is sufficient to answer the question.
Assume Statement 1 alone. and have the same degree measure, so the inscribed angles that intercept these arcs must also have the same degree measure - that is, . Since , both being right angles, this sets up the conditions of the Angle-Angle Postulate, so it follows that .
Assume Statement 2 alone. Major arc and major arc . by Statement 2, so
Again, the inscribed angles that intercept these arcs must also be congruent - that is, . Again, this, along with , prove that by way of the Angle-Angle Postulate.
Example Question #1 : Dsq: Calculating The Height Of A Right Triangle
is a right triangle where is a right angle. What is the length of the height ?
(1)
(1)
Each statement alone is sufficient
Statement 1 alone is sufficient
Statement 2 alone is sufficient
Both statements together are sufficient
Statements 1 and 2 together are not sufficient.
Both statements together are sufficient
To know the length of the height triangle, we would need to know the lengths of the triangle or the angles to have more information about the triangle.
Statement 1 only gives us a length of a side. There is nothing more we can calculate from what we know so far.
Statement 2 alone tells us that the triangle is isoceles. Indeed, ABC is a right triangle, if one of its angle is 45 degrees, than so must be another. Now, we are able to tell that the length of the height would be the same as half the hypothenuse. A single side would be sufficient to answer the problem. Statment 1 gives us that information. Therefore, both statements together are sufficient.
Example Question #2 : Dsq: Calculating The Height Of A Right Triangle
What is the length of the height of right triangle , where is a right angle?
(1)
(2)
Statements (1) and (2) together are not sufficient.
Each statement alone is sufficient
Statement (1) alone is sufficient
Statement (2) alone is sufficient
Both statements together are sufficient
Both statements together are sufficient
Since we are told that triangle ABC is a right triangle, to find the height, we just need the length of at least 2 other sides. From there, we can find the length of the height since in a right triangle, the height divides the triangle into two triangles with the same proportions. In other words . Therefore, we need to know the length of the sides of the triangle.
Example Question #3 : Dsq: Calculating The Height Of A Right Triangle
Consider right .
I) The longest side, , has a length of meters.
II) .
What is the height of ?
Statement I is sufficient to answer the question, but statement II is not sufficient to answer the question.
Both statements are needed to answer the question.
Statement II is sufficient to answer the question, but statement I is not sufficient to answer the question.
Neither statement is sufficient to answer the question. More information is needed.
Either statement is sufficient to answer the question.
Both statements are needed to answer the question.
The height of a right triangle will be one of its side lengths.
I) tells us the length of our hypotenuse.
II) gives us the other two angle measurements.
They are both 45 degrees, which makes JKL a 45/45/90 triangle with side length ratios of .
Which we can use to find the height.