All GRE Math Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #3 : How To Find The Equation Of A Perpendicular Line
Which of the following is a line perpendicular to the line passing through and ?
To find if something is perpendicular, you need to first know the slope of your given line. Based on your points, this is easy. Recall that slope is merely:
This is:
Since a perpendicular line has a slope that is both opposite in sign and reciprocal, you need to choose a line with a slope of . The only possible option is, therefore,
Example Question #1 : Distance Formula
find the distance between points x and y
X: (6,3)
Y: (11,15)
12
19
13
8
5
13
easiest way to do this is by plotting the points and turining it into a right triangle by using delta x and delta y
the delta x is 11-6 = 5
the delta y is 15-3 = 12
those form the two legs of the right triangle; the hypotenuse is the distance
dx2 +dy2= h2
25+144 = h2
169 = h2
h = 13
Example Question #101 : Coordinate Geometry
Quantity A: The distance between the points with rectangular coordinates (6,0) and (10,0)
Quantity B: The distance between the points with rectangular coordinates (1,1) and (–2,4)
Quantity B is greater.
The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.
Quantity A is greater.
The two quantities are equal.
Quantity B is greater.
We can see that the distance between the two points in Quantity A is 4 because they have the same y-coordinate and x-coordinates that are 4 apart (10 – 6).
Quantity B is a little trickier to figure out and requires either the use of the formula below or creating a right triangle out of the two points.
Using the formula √[(–2 – 1)2 + (4 – 1)2] is √[9 + 9] which equals √18.
Although we don't know the square root of 18 automatically, we know that it will fall between √16 and √25 or 4 and 5. Since Quantity A is 4 and Quantity B has to be between 4 and 5, Quantity B is greater.
Example Question #102 : Coordinate Geometry
What is the distance between the two points, (1,1) and (7,9)?
5
3
51/2
7.5
10
10
distance2 = (x2 – x1)2 + (y2 – y1)2
Looking at the two order pairs given, x1 = 1, y1 = 1, x2 = 7, y2 = 9.
distance2 = (7 – 1)2 + (9 – 1)2 = 62 + 82 = 100
distance = 10
Example Question #1 : How To Find The Length Of A Line With Distance Formula
What is the distance between and ?
distance2 = (x2 – x1)2 + (y2 – y1)2 + (z2 – z1)2
= (4 – 2)2 + (6 – 3)2 + (5 – 4)2
= 22 + 32 + 12
= 14
distance = √14
Example Question #291 : Geometry
A man travels north 40 meters, while at the same time his wife travels south 20 meters from his initial starting place. He then travels west 100 meters, and his wife travels east 60 meters, followed by him backtracking east 30 meters while his wife stays in the same spot.
Find the approximate value for half the distance between them.
72
56
144
220
110
72
The man travels 40 meters north, 100 meters west, and 30 meters east. After he backtracks, he now has a cumulative distance west of 70 meters and he is 40 meters north. His wife has travelled east 60 meters and south 20 meters. Their positions can be modelled by the following points:
We can use the distance fomula to find the distance between the two points.
Half of this distance would be 71.59, approximately 72 meters.
Example Question #222 : Advanced Geometry
Suppose .
To obtain the graph of , shift the graph a distance of units .
Downwards
To the right
Up and right
To the left
Upwards
Upwards
There are four shifts of the graph y = f(x):
y = f(x) + c shifts the graph c units upwards.
y = f(x) – c shifts the graph c units downwards.
y = f(x + c) shifts the graph c units to the left.
y = f(x – c) shifts the graph c units to the right.
Example Question #294 : Geometry
Which of the following terms are linear?
all of these terms are linear
sin(x)
yz
x
x2
x
Linear terms have only one variable in a product and no exponents other than 0 or 1. x2 has an exponent other than 0 or 1 so it is not linear. yz has two variables so is also not a linear term. Linear terms cannot have functions of variables either, so sin(x) is not linear.
We can also think of these terms somewhat like graphing equations. Linear equations are straight lines. You might recognize, for example, that x2 should be a parabola. Sin(x) has a graph that looks like a harmonic wave. Clearly these two shaps aren't straight lines!
Example Question #2 : How To Graph A Line
The slope of a line segment with points and is:
The formula for calculating slope is rise over run, or the difference in divided by the difference in . In this case, the difference in is 5 while the difference in is 5, resulting in a slope of or 1.
Example Question #1 : How To Graph A Line
What is the slope of the linear line that passes through the origin and the point ?
Slope of a line given 2 points can be found using
.
Therefore
or