GMAT Math : Arithmetic

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GMAT Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #491 : Arithmetic

The mean of the following terms is 11. Solve for .

15, 12, 9, 7, 17, 8,

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The mean times the number of terms is equal to 77.

The sum of all of the terms must equal 77.

Example Question #2041 : Gmat Quantitative Reasoning

Charlotte's course average in chemistry class is the average of the best five of her six hourly test scores. Going into finals week, Charlotte has scores of 88, 84, 84, 89, and 72. How much, at minimum, must Charlotte score on her sixth test in order to make an average of 85 or better for the term?

Possible Answers:

Charlotte is already assured of a course average of at least 85 for the term.

Correct answer:

Explanation:

If Charlotte does not take the sixth test, she will receive the average of her first five tests - this is 

Charlotte is not assured of an 85 or better, so she must take the test to achieve this. 

Let  be the score she makes on the sixth test. If , then her first five tests will stand, so let's assume that . Then her average will be

Since Charlotte wants an average of 85 or better, we solve this inequality:

Her sixth test must be 80, at minimum.

Example Question #491 : Arithmetic

Consider the data set

For the set to have mean greater than or equal to 50, what must hold true about  and ?

Possible Answers:

One must be greater than 94; the other must be less than 94.

Each must be greater than or equal to 47.

Their sum must be greater than or equal to 47.

One must be greater than 47; the other must be less than 47.

Their sum must be greater than or equal to 94.

Correct answer:

Their sum must be greater than or equal to 47.

Explanation:

Divide the sum of the eight elements by 8 to get the mean, which must be greater than or equal to 50:

This is all that is needed for the set to have mean 50.

Example Question #32 : Descriptive Statistics

What is the mean for the following data set:

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The mean is the average of the data set. There are  data points in the set

Example Question #491 : Arithmetic

What is the mean for the following set:

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The mean is the average of all of the numbers:

 

Example Question #2042 : Problem Solving Questions

Consider the data set 

What is its mean?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Add the ten elements and divide the sum by 10. The mean is 

Example Question #41 : Descriptive Statistics

A gymnastics meet has seven judges. After each routine, each judge assigns a merit-based score from 0 to 10. To guard against bias, a contestant's score for the routine is the mean of all the judges' scores except for the highest and the lowest.

On one of Sarah's routines, each of the following judges scores her as follows:

What is Sarah's score?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Ellis and Jones gave Sarah the highest and lowest scores, respectively, so her score will be the mean of the other five:

Example Question #2041 : Gmat Quantitative Reasoning

Find  such that the arithmetic mean of  is equal to the arithmetic mean of 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The formula for the arithmetic mean is:

Mean= 

We can then write:

Example Question #23 : Calculating Arithmetic Mean

The arithmetic mean of the set  is 250.

Which of the following is the arithmetic mean of the set ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

,

which is the correct choice.

Example Question #43 : Descriptive Statistics

Jane's average score in her biology class is currently . What must be Jane's score on the sixth and last test in order for her final average score to be ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

We are looking for the grade Jane must get on her 6th test in order to raise her average of 65 from the 5 previous tests to 72.

The sum of Jane's grades from the previous 5 tests is obtained by using the formula of the arithmetic mean.

mean = sum of values/ number of values

sum of values = mean x number of values

                      

Let x be Jane's score on the 6th test:

Jane must get a score of 107 on her last test in order to get an average score of 72 in her class.

 

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