GRE Math : Plane Geometry

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Math

varsity tutors app store varsity tutors android store varsity tutors amazon store varsity tutors ibooks store

Example Questions

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Area Of An Equilateral Triangle

Gre circle

An equilateral triangle is inscribed into a circle of radius 10. What is the area of the triangle?

Possible Answers:

The answer cannot be determined from the information given.

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To solve this equation, first note that a line drawn from the origin to a vertex of the equilateral triangle will bisect the angle of the vertex. Furthermore, the length of this line is equal to the radius:

Gre circle solution

That this creates in turn is a 30-60-90 right triangle. Recall that the ratio of the sides of a 30-60-90 triangle is given as:

Therefore, the length of the  side can be found to be

This is also one half of the base of the triangle, so the base of the triangle can be found to be:

Furthermore, the length of the  side is:

The vertical section rising from the origin is the length of the radius, which when combined with the shorter section above gives the height of the triangle:

The area of a triangle is given by one half the base times the height, so we can find the answer as follows:

Example Question #1 : Equilateral Triangles

Find the area of an equilateral triangle when one of its sides equals 4.

Possible Answers:

8

2√3

4

4√3

Correct answer:

4√3

Explanation:

All sides of an equilateral triangle are equal, so all sides of this triangle equal 4.  

Area = 1/2 base * height, so we need to calculate the height: this is easy for an equilateral triangle, since you can bisect any such triangle into two identical 30:60:90 triangles.

The ratio of lengths of a 30:60:90 triangle is 1:√3:2. The side of the equilateral triangle is 4, and we divided the base in half when we bisected the triangle, so that give us a length of 2, so our triangle must have sides of 2, 4, and 2√3; thus we have our height.

One of our 30:60:90 triangles will have a base of 2 and a height of 2√3. Half the base is 1, so 1 * 2√3 = 2√3.

We have two of these triangles, since we divided the original triangle, so the total area is 2 * 2√3 = 4√3.

You can also solve for the area of any equilateral triangle by applying the formula (s2√3)/4, where s = the length of any side.

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Height Of An Equilateral Triangle

One side of an equilateral triangle is equal to 

Quantity A: The area of the triangle.

Quantity B: 

Possible Answers:

The two quantities are equal.

Quantity A is greater.

Quantity B is greater.

The relationship cannot be determined.

Correct answer:

Quantity B is greater.

Explanation:

To find the area of an equilateral triangle, notice that it can be divided into two  triangles:

Equilateral triangle

The ratio of sides in a  triangle is , and since the triangle is bisected such that the  degree side is , the  degree side, the height of the triangle, must have a length of .

The formula for the area of the triangle is given as:

So the area of an equilateral triangle can be written in term of the lengths of its sides as:

For this particular triangle, since , its area is equal to .

If the relation between ratios is hard to visualize, realize that 

 

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Height Of An Equilateral Triangle

If the area of an equilateral triangle is , what is the height of the triangle?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The area of an equilateral triangle is .

So let's set-up an equation to solve for 

 Cross multiply.

 

The  cancels out and we get .

Then take square root on both sides and we get . To find height, we need to realize by drawing a height we create   triangles. 

The height is opposite the angle . We can set-up a proportion. Side opposite  is  and the side of equilateral triangle which is opposite  is .

 Cross multiply.

 Divide both sides by 

 

We can simplify this by factoring out a  to get a final answer of 

Example Question #41 : Triangles

Quantity A: The height of an equilateral triangle with an area of 

Quantity B: 

Which of the following is true?

 

Possible Answers:

Quantity A is greater.

The two quantities are equal.

Quantity B is greater.

The relationship cannot be determined.

Correct answer:

Quantity B is greater.

Explanation:

This problem requires a bit of creative thinking (unless you have memorized the fact that an equilateral triangle always has an area equal to its side length times .

Consider the equilateral triangle:

Equilateral8

Since this kind of triangle is a species of isoceles triangle, we know that we can drop down a height from the top vertex. This will create two equivalent triangles, one of which will look like:

Equilateral8 2

This gives us a 30-60-90 triangle. We know that for such a triangle, the ratio of the side across from the 30-degree angle to the side across from the 60-degree angle is:

We can also say, given our figure, that the following equivalence must hold:

Solving for , we get:

Now, since , we know that  must be smaller than . This means that  or . Quantity B is larger than quantity A.

Example Question #41 : Triangles

Quantity A: The height of an equilateral triangle with perimeter of .

Quantity B: 

Which of the following is true?

Possible Answers:

Quantity A is larger.

The two quantities are equal.

The relationship cannot be determined.

Quantity B is larger.

Correct answer:

Quantity B is larger.

Explanation:

If the perimeter of our equilateral triangle is , each of its sides must be  or . This gives us the following figure:

Equilateral9

Since this kind of triangle is a species of isoceles triangle, we know that we can drop down a height from the top vertex. This will create two equivalent triangles, one of which will look like:

Equilateral9 2

 

This gives us a 30-60-90 triangle. We know that for such a triangle, the ratio of the side across from the 30-degree angle to the side across from the 60-degree angle is:

Therefore, we can also say, given our figure, that the following equivalence must hold:

Solving for , we get:

Now, since , we know that  must be smaller than . This means that  or 

Therefore, quantity B is larger than quantity A.

Example Question #1 : Right Triangles

A triangle has three internal angles of 75, 60, and x. What is x? 

Possible Answers:

60

45

110

75

90

Correct answer:

45

Explanation:

The internal angles of a triangle must add up to 180. 180 - 75 -60= 45. 

Example Question #1 : Right Triangles

Quantitative Comparison

 Gre_quant_171_01

Column A

Area

 

Column B

Perimeter

 
 
Possible Answers:

Column B is greater

Column A and B are equal

Cannot be determined

Column A is greater

Correct answer:

Column A and B are equal

Explanation:

To find the perimeter, add up the sides, here 5 + 12 + 13 = 30. To find the area, multiply the two legs together and divide by 2, here (5 * 12)/2 = 30.

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Area Of A Right Triangle

Gre_quant_179_01

Given triangle ACE where B is the midpoint of AC, what is the area of triangle ABD?

Possible Answers:

72

24

48

96

Correct answer:

24

Explanation:

If B is a midpoint of AC, then we know AB is 12. Moreover, triangles ACE and ABD share angle DAB and have right angles which makes them similar triangles. Thus, their sides will all be proportional, and BD is 4. 1/2bh gives us 1/* 12 * 4, or 24.

Example Question #46 : Triangles

What is the area of a right triangle with hypotenuse of 13 and base of 12?

Possible Answers:

60

30

78

156

25

Correct answer:

30

Explanation:

Area = 1/2(base)(height). You could use Pythagorean theorem to find the height or, if you know the special right triangles, recognize the 5-12-13. The area = 1/2(12)(5) = 30. 

Tired of practice problems?

Try live online GRE prep today.

1-on-1 Tutoring
Live Online Class
1-on-1 + Class
Learning Tools by Varsity Tutors