GMAT Math : Problem-Solving Questions

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GMAT Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #11 : Percents

An elementary school was polled to find out what the children's favorite foods were. When asked what their favorite foods were, 42 students said pizza. 33 students said cheeseburgers, 12 students said hot dogs, 10 students said chicken nuggets, and the remaining 18 students filled in other various answers. What percentage of the students had pizza as their favorite food?

Possible Answers:

33.3%

42%

39%

36.5%

40.5%

Correct answer:

36.5%

Explanation:

To calculate the percentage of students who chose pizza as their favorite food, you take the number of students who chose pizza and divide by the total number of students. So first, we must calculate the total number of students. Which is simply  total sudents.

So,

Multiply our result by 100 to get into percentage form we get 36.5% 

 

Example Question #12 : Percents

Let  be a positive real number. In terms of , what percent of 20 is ?

Possible Answers:

 %

 %

 %

 %

 %

Correct answer:

 %

Explanation:

Set up a proportion statement.

Solve for :

Example Question #91 : Arithmetic

A number is divided by 6; its decimal point is then moved to the left one place. This is the same as taking what percent of the number?

Possible Answers:

 %

  %

 %

 %

 %

Correct answer:

  %

Explanation:

Dividing the number by 6 is the same as multiplying it by . Moving the decimal point left one digit is dividing it by ten, or multiplying it by . The two actions together amount to multiplying the number by .

To find its percent equivalent, multiply by 100:

The correct choice is  % .

Example Question #13 : Percents

If 10 percent of is 25 percent of half of , what is ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

This is simply a matter of breaking down the problem.  10 percent of is .

25 percent of (half of y) is 25 percent of which is

.

Now we have these two being equal, so

or

giving

.

Finally,

Example Question #92 : Arithmetic

The Republic of Fredonia uses an unusual currency system. 14 fluts are equal to 1 glut, and 16 gluts are equal to 1 blut.

A hat that cost 14 gluts 10 fluts yesterday now costs an even 1 blut. To the nearest tenth of a percent, what percent markup does this represent? 

Possible Answers:

 %

 %

 %

 %

 %

Correct answer:

 %

Explanation:

This can be most easily done by looking at the current and former price in fluts.

The current price is 1 blut, or  fluts.

Yesterday's price was 14 gluts 10 fluts, or  fluts.

This represents a markup of  percent.

Example Question #14 : Percents

Gary weighs 20 percent more than Harry who's weight is 80 percent of James' weight. If James weighs 172 pounds, how much would Gary weigh if he lost 12 pounds? (Rounded to the nearest pound). 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

If James weighs 172 pounds, and Harry weighs 80% of that, then

  pounds. If Gary weighs 20% more than Harry, then

he is 120% Harry's weight . If he loses 12 pounds,

he would weigh 153.12 or 153 pounds.

Example Question #93 : Arithmetic

The price of an item is decreased by 10%, then by 20%, then by 30%. This is equivalent to doing what?

Possible Answers:

Decreasing the price by 50.4%

Decreasing the price by 50%.

Decreasing the price by 40%

Decreasing the price by 60%.

Decreasing the price by 49.6%

Correct answer:

Decreasing the price by 49.6%

Explanation:

Decreasing a price by 10%, then by 20%, then by 30% is equivalent to taking 90% of a price, then taking 80% of that, then taking 70% of that. That, in turn, is equivalent to multiplying the price by 0.90, then by 0.80, then by 0.70.

For simplicity's sake, assume the initial price was $100. Then we can calculate the final price as follows:

The final price is $50.40, so we essentially discounted the price by $49.60, which is 49.6%.

Example Question #94 : Arithmetic

What is 15 percent of 80?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

This word problem can be written as

 

Simplifying this, we get

 

Example Question #93 : Arithmetic

Square

Refer to the above figure. Each of the squares is of equal area. What percent of the figure is green?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Out of the twenty squares, three are green; this is  of the region.

Example Question #14 : Percents

A number is multiplied by one-sixth; the product is divided by one-seventh; that quotient is multiplied by seven-tenths. What percent of the original number is the final result?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The best way to do this is to start with 100 and to calculate the final result, which will be the correct answer.

The final result will be as follows:

The final number will be  of the original number.

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