All GRE Math Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #31 : Proportion / Ratio / Rate
Beverly just filled up her gas tank, which has enough gas to last her, at her usual driving rate, about 45 days. However, Beverly becomes extra busy and begins driving 66.6% more than she usually does. How many days does the tank of gas last Beverly at her new rate?
10 days
30 days
15 days
33 days
27 days
27 days
Answer: 27 days
Explanation: Recall that the rate of gas consumption is INVERSELY related to the time it takes to consume the gas. Thus, if the rate of gas consumption increases to 5/3 of it's original rate (a 66.6% increase), then the time it will take to consume all of the gas decreases to the inverse, or 3/5 of the original. The answer is thus 27 (3/5 of 45).
Example Question #1 : How To Find Rate
A Super Sweet Candy Puff Roll has 1450 calories per roll. A man eats one roll in 10 minutes. During the work day, the man eats a roll at the start of the shift and then eats another a roll every two hours after finishing the last one. Since he is watching his health, he eats only until 3 PM but will not start eating another one at any time after 3 PM. If his shift begins at 8 AM and ends at 5 PM, how many calories per minute does he consume in Super Sweet Candy Puff Rolls® during the whole work day?
9.21
10.74
14.27
13.43
5800
10.74
It is probably easiest just to write out the eating schedule:
Roll 1: 8:00 AM - 8:10 AM
Roll 2: 10:10 AM - 10:20 AM
Roll 3: 12:20 PM - 12:30 PM
Roll 4: 2:40 PM - 2:50 PM
Therefore, he eats 4 rolls, or 1450 * 4 = 5800 calories. To get the rate, this must be divided across the whole day's minutes: 9 work hours * 60 = 540 minutes. The average calories per minute = 10.74.
Example Question #3 : How To Find Rate
The cold-water faucet can fill a bucket in 30 minutes, and the hot-water faucet can fill a bucket in 60 minutes. How long will it take to fill a bucket when the two faucets are running together?
45 minutes
30 minutes
25 minutes
60 minutes
20 minutes
20 minutes
The cold-water faucet fills the bucket in 30 minutes, so in 1 minute it fills 1/30 of the bucket. The hot-water faucet fills the bucket in 60 minutes, so in 1 minute it fills 1/60 of the bucket. Then, when they're both running together they fill 1/30 + 1/60 of the bucket in 1 minute.
1/30 + 1/60 = 2/60 + 1/60 = 3/60 = 1/20, so they fill the whole bucket in 20 minutes.
Example Question #2 : How To Find Rate
Quantitative Comparison
Alice has a puppy and a kitten. The puppy weighs 4 pounds and grows at a rate of 1 pound per month. The kitten weighs 2 pounds and grows at a rate of 2 pounds per month.
Quantity A: Weight of the puppy after 8 months
Quantity B: Weight of the kitten after 7 months
The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.
Quantity A is greater.
The two quantities are equal.
Quantity B is greater.
Quantity B is greater.
The puppy starts at 4 pounds and gains 1 pound per month for 8 months, so he weighs 4 + 8 = 12 pounds at the end of 8 months. The kitten starts at 2 pounds and gains 2 pounds per month for 7 months, so he weighs 2 + 14 = 16 pounds at the end of 7 months. Therefore Quantity B is greater.
Example Question #3 : How To Find Rate
Kathy travels 40 miles in 1 hour and then 60 miles in 3 hours. What is her average speed in miles per hour?
18 mi/hr
35 mi/hr
25 mi/hr
20 mi/hr
30 mi/hr
25 mi/hr
It's tempting to take the two rates and average them. This is wrong but the GRE will always give you this as a trap answer choice. In this problem, looking at the two rates separately would give us 40 mi/hr and 20 mi/hr, making the trap answer here 30 mi/hr.
The key is that Kathy goes 40 mi/hr for 1 hour and then 20 mi/hr for 3 hours, so the speed should be less than the middle number of 30. 18 mi/hr is lower than her lowest speed so that doesn't make sense, and 20 mi/hr is too low because the 1 hour at 40 mi/hr should bring the average up a little bit. Therefore the answer must be 25 mi/hr.
We can also do the computations to find the answer. The correct formula is average miles per hour = total miles / total hours. Plugging in our values, average speed = (40 + 60) miles / (1 + 3) hours = 25 mi/hr.
Example Question #3 : How To Find Rate
A 10,000 gallon shark tank is filled by two hoses. Hose A fills at a rate of 1,000 gallons per hour. When Hose A and Hose B are both on, they fill the shark tank in 4 hours. At what rate does Hose B fill the tank?
2000 gallons/hour
1500 gallons/hour
2500 gallons/hour
1000 gallons/hour
3000 gallons/hour
1500 gallons/hour
This problem gives the rate of Hose A instead of the time it takes to fill the shark tank. Let's convert the rest of the problem information into rates as well. The tank is 10,000 gallons, and it takes the two hoses together 4 hours to fill the tank. Therefore, the combined rate is 10,000/4 = 2,500 gallons per hour.
Now we know that Hose A can deliver 1,000 gallons in an hour, and together Hose A and Hose B can deliver 2,500 gallons in an hour. So 1,000 gallons + Hose B gallons = 2,500 gallons. Then Hose B fills the tank at 2500 – 1000 = 1500 gallons/hour.
Example Question #8 : How To Find Rate
At 9 AM, the temperature is 65 degrees. At 2 PM, the temperature has risen to 100 degrees. What is the rate of temperature change in degrees per hour?
10 degrees/hour
9 degrees/hour
35 degrees/hour
5 degrees/hour
7 degrees/hour
7 degrees/hour
The change in temperature is 100 – 65 = 35 degrees. The change in time is 9 AM to 2 PM, or 5 hours. So the rate of change is 35 degrees / 5 hours = 7 degrees / hour.
Example Question #31 : Proportion / Ratio / Rate
Ben mows the lawn in 1 hour. Kent mows the lawn in 2 hours. How long will it take them to mow the lawn working together?
50 minutes
1 hour
40 minutes
1 1/2 hours
45 minutes
40 minutes
Ben mows 1 lawn in 1 hour, or 1/60 of the lawn in 1 minute. Ken mows 1 lawn in 2 hours, or 1/120 of the lawn in 1 minute. Then each minute they mow 1/60 + 1/120 = 3/120 = 1/40 of the lawn. That means the entire lawn takes 40 minutes to mow.
Example Question #34 : Proportion / Ratio / Rate
A train travels at 50 feet per second. If there are 5280 feet in a mile, how many miles will the train travel in an hour?
264,000
950,400,000
0.6
70
34
34
First, we must determine how many feet per hour the train travels.
50 feet per second * 60 seconds in a minute * 60 minutes in an hour.
50 * 60 * 60 = 180,000
Then, it's just a matter of converting 180,000 feet to miles. Because there are 5280 feet in a mile, just divide.
180,000 / 5280 = 34.091
Example Question #32 : Proportion / Ratio / Rate
John can paint a room in 4 hours, and Susan can paint the same room in 6 hours. How many minutes would it take them to paint the room together?
minutes
minutes
minutes
minutes
minutes
minutes
First find what fraction of the job is completed per hour. If John can paint the room in 4 hours, then he completes of it per hour. Similarly, Susan paints of it per hour. So together they paint of the room per hour.
Add by rewriting them with the same common denominator (least common multiple of 4 and 6 is 12, so 12 is the least common denominator):
This means of the job is completed per hour. To find the number of hours for the whole job (1 room), divide the whole by the fraction completed per hour:
Convert hours to minutes: