GRE Math : Plane Geometry

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Math

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Example Questions

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

The perimeter of a rectangle is  . One side is . What is the area of this rectangle?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Recall that perimeter is defined as:

For our data, this is:

Solve for :

Therefore, 

This means that the area of the rectangle is equal to:

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

Rectangle \dpi{100} \small A has a length of 20 inches and a width of 3 inches. Rectangle \dpi{100} \small B has a length of 9 inches and a width of 10 inches. By what number must the area of rectangle \dpi{100} \small A be multiplied by to equal the area of rectangle \dpi{100} \small B

Possible Answers:

\dpi{100} \small 5

\dpi{100} \small 2

\dpi{100} \small 1

\dpi{100} \small 3.5

\dpi{100} \small 1.5

Correct answer:

\dpi{100} \small 1.5

Explanation:

Area of rectangle \dpi{100} \small A is \dpi{100} \small 20\times 3=60.

Area of rectangle \dpi{100} \small B is \dpi{100} \small 9\times 10=90

\dpi{100} \small 60x=90

\dpi{100} \small x=1.5

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Perimeter Of A Rectangle

Quantity A 

The perimeter of a square with a diagonal of 12 inches.     

Quantity B

The perimeter of a rectangle with a diagonal of 10 inches and longer sides that are three times the length of its shorter sides.

Possible Answers:

Quantity A is greater.

The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.

Quantity B is greater.

The quantities are equal.

Correct answer:

Quantity A is greater.

Explanation:

The diagonal of a square creates a 45-45-90 triangle; therefore, considering x as the value for the sides of the square in A, set up the ratio: 1/√2 = x/12 → x = 12/√2

Simplify the square root out of the denominator: x = (12√2)/2 = 6√2. The perimeter is equal to 4x; therefore, quantity A is 24√2.

Use the Pythagorean Theorem for B. We know that one side of the triangle is x and the other must be 3x. Furthermore, we know the hypotenuse is 10; therefore:

x2 + (3x)2 = 10→ x2 + 9x2 = 100 → 10x2 = 100 → x2 = 10 → x = √10. 

Transform the √10 into √2  * √5 ; therefore, x = √2  * √5 . The perimeter of the rectangle will equal 3x + 3x + x + x = 8x = 8√2 * √5 .

Compare these two values. Quantity A has a coefficient of 24 in for its √2 . Quantity B has a coefficient of 8√5, which must be smaller than 24, because 8 * 3 = 24, but √5 is less than 3 (which would be √9 ); therefore, A is larger.

Example Question #2 : How To Find The Perimeter Of A Rectangle

A rectangle has a length that is twice that of its height. If the perimeter of that rectangle is , what is its area?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Based on our first sentence, we know:

The second sentence means:

, which is the same as:

Now, we can replace  with  in the second equation:

Therefore, 

Now, this means that:

If these are our values, then the area of the rectangle is:

Example Question #3 : How To Find The Perimeter Of A Rectangle

A rectangle with an area of 64 square units is one-fourth as wide as it is long. What is the perimeter of the rectangle?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Begin by setting up a ratio of width to length for the rectangle. We know that the width is one-fourth the length, therefore 

.

Now, we can substitute W in the rectangle area formula with our new variable to solve for the length.

Solve for length:

Using the length, solve for Width:

Now, plug the length and width into the formula for the perimeter of a rectangle to solve:

The perimeter of the rectangle is 40.

 

Example Question #1 : How To Find If Rectangles Are Similar

The perimeter of a rectangle is 14, and the diagonal connecting two vertices is 5. 

Quantity A: 13

Quantity B: The area of the rectangle

Possible Answers:

The relationship between A and B cannot be determined.

The two quantities are equal.

Quantity A is greater.

Quantity B is greater.

Correct answer:

Quantity A is greater.

Explanation:

One potentially helpful first step is to draw the rectangle described in the problem statement:

Gre rectangle

After that, it's a matter of using the other information given. The perimeter is given as 14, and can be written in terms of the length and width of the rectangle:

Furthermore, notice that the diagonal forms the hypotenuse of a right triangle. The Pythagorean Theorem may be applied:

This provides two equations and two unknowns. Redefining the first equation to isolate  gives:

Plugging this into the second equation in turn gives:

Which can be reduced to:

or

Note that there are two possibile values for ; 3 or 4. The one chosen is irrelevant. Choosing a value 3, it is possible to then find a value for :

This in turn allows for the definition of the rectangle's area:

So Quantity B is 12, which is less than Quantity A.

Example Question #41 : Quadrilaterals

One rectangle has sides of  and . Which of the following pairs could be the sides of a rectangle similar to this one?

Possible Answers:

 and 

 and 

 and 

 and 

Correct answer:

 and 

Explanation:

For this problem, you need to find the pair of sides that would reduce to the same ratio as the original set of sides. This is a little tricky at first, but consider the set:

 and 

For this, you have:

Now, if you factor out , you have:

Thus, the proportions are the same, meaning that the two rectangles would be similar.

Example Question #3 : How To Find If Rectangles Are Similar

One rectangle has a height of  and a width of . Which of the following is a possible perimeter of a similar rectangle, having one side that is ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Based on the information given, we know that  could be either the longer or the shorter side of the similar rectangle. Similar rectangles have proportional sides. We might need to test both, but let us begin with the easier proportion, namely:

 as 

For this proportion, you really do not even need fractions. You know that  must be .

This means that the figure would have a perimeter of 

Luckily, this is one of the answers!

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Perimeter Of A Square

What is the perimeter of a square that has an area of 81?

Possible Answers:

40.5

36

18

9

Correct answer:

36

Explanation:

36

A square has four equal sides and its area = side2. Therefore, you can find the side length by taking the square root of the area √81 = 9. Then, find the perimeter by multiplying the side length by 4:

4 * 9 = 36 

Example Question #2 : How To Find The Perimeter Of A Square

Geometry_2

The radius of the circle is 2 inches. What is the perimeter of the inscribed square? 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The center of an inscribed square lies on the center of the circle. Thus, the line joining the center to a vertex of the square is also the radius. If we join the center with two adjacent vertices we can create a 45-45-90 right isosceles triangle, where the diagonal of the square is the hypotenuse. Since the radius is 2, the hypotenuse (a side of the square) must be  .

Finally, the perimeter of a square is

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