GRE Math : GRE Quantitative Reasoning

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #491 : Gre Quantitative Reasoning

Two six-sided dice are rolled.

Quantity A: The probability of rolling a total of 6

Quantity B: The probability of rolling a total of 9 

Possible Answers:

The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.

Quantity B is greater

The two quantities are equal

Quantity A is greater

Correct answer:

Quantity A is greater

Explanation:

List out the the possibilities of combinations for rolling a total of 6 and the possibilities of combinations for rolling a total of 9. There are 5 possible outcomes for rolling a total of 6 and 4 possible outcomes for rolling a total of 9. There are a total of 36 possible outcomes, so the probability of rolling a 6 is  and the possibility of rolling a 9 is 

Example Question #32 : How To Find The Probability Of An Outcome

James has three normal six-sided dice. He rolls all three of the dice at the same time and records the three numbers that land face up. What is the probability that the dice did NOT land on three-of-a-kind?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The probability of an event not occurring is defined as 1 minus the probability of that event occurring. The probability of rolling three of a kind on every face is \dpi{100} \small \frac{1}{6}\times \frac{1}{6}\times \frac{1}{6}=\frac{1}{216}.

There are six different possible three-of-a-kinds, so the probability is therefore \dpi{100} \small 6\times \frac{1}{216}=\frac{1}{36}.

Therefore the probability of not rolling a three of the same number is \dpi{100} \small 1-\frac{1}{36}=\frac{35}{36}.

Example Question #41 : Probability

There are seven black marbles and nine white marbles in a bag. What is the approximate probability of drawing two black marbles and then a white marble without replacement?

Possible Answers:

0.15

0.2

0.13

0.11

0.21

Correct answer:

0.11

Explanation:

This is a straightforward probability problem. Recall that to find the probability of related draws without replacement, we multiply the relative probabilities of each event. The first draw has a probability of \frac{7}{16}, the second draw of \frac{6}{15}, and the third draw of \frac{9}{14}.

\frac{7}{16}\times \frac{2}{5}\times \frac{9}{14}=\frac{9}{80}\approx 0.11

Example Question #45 : Data Analysis

There is a bag of 28 red balls and a bag of 12 blue balls.

Quantity A: The total number of red and blue balls.

Quantity B: The number of blue balls that you can pair with one red ball.

Possible Answers:

The two quantities are equal

Quantity B is greater

Quantity A is greater

The relationship cannot be determined from the information given

Correct answer:

Quantity A is greater

Explanation:

There are 40 total balls, and only 12 blue balls.

Example Question #51 : Data Analysis

A random variable  is normally distributed with a mean of 500 and a standard deviation of 20.

A

---

Probability of the event that 

 

B

---

Possible Answers:

Quantity B is greater

The relationship cannot be determined

The two quantities are equal

Quantity A is greater

Correct answer:

Quantity B is greater

Explanation:

In a normally distributed curve, a standard deviation of 1 contains ~68% of all values within its range, and a standard deviation of 2 contains ~95% of all values within its range. Since the mean value is 500 for this situation, two standard deviations would occur at values 460 to 540 (i.e. ~95% of all values are within this range). This would mean that the value of 450 would fall outside this range, i.e. a 100%–95% = 5% probability. Since 5% expressed as a fraction is 1/20, Quantity B is far greater than the probability of landing at 450.

Example Question #42 : Probability

Presented with a deck of fifty-two cards (no jokers), what is the probability of drawing either a face card or a spade?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

A face card constitutes a Jack, Queen, or King, and there are twelve in a deck, so the probability of drawing a face card is .

There are thirteen spades in the deck, so the probability of drawing a spade is .

Keep in mind that there are also three cards that fit into both categories: the Jack, Queen, and King of Spades; the probability of drawing one is 

Thus the probability of drawing a face card or a spade is:

 

Example Question #44 : Probability

A coin is flipped four times. What is the probability of getting heads at least three times?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Since this problem deals with a probability with two potential outcomes, it is a binomial distribution, and so the probability of an event is given as:

Where  is the number of events,  is the number of "successes" (in this case, a "heads" outcome), and  is the probability of success (in this case, fifty percent).

Per the question, we're looking for the probability of at least three heads; three head flips or four head flips would satisfy this:

Thus the probability of three or more flips is:

Example Question #52 : Data Analysis

Rolling a four-sided dice, what is the probability of rolling a  three times out of four?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Since this problem deals with a probability with two potential outcomes, it is a binomial distribution, and so the probability of an event is given as:

Where  is the number of events,  is the number of "successes" (in this case rolling a four), and  is the probability of success (one in four).

Example Question #211 : Data Analysis

A coin is flipped seven times. What is the probability of getting heads six or fewer times?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Since this problem deals with a probability with two potential outcomes, it is a binomial distribution, and so the probability of an event is given as:

Where  is the number of events,  is the number of "successes" (in this case, a "heads" outcome), and  is the probability of success (in this case, fifty percent).

One approach is to calculate the probability of flipping no heads, one head, two heads, etc., all the way to six heads, and adding those probabilities together, but that would be time consuming. Rather, calculate the probability of flipping seven heads. The complement to that would then be the sum of all other flip probabilities, which is what the problem calls for:

Therefore, the probability of six or fewer heads is:

Example Question #1548 : Psat Mathematics

Set A: 

Set B: 

One letter is picked from Set A and Set B. What is the probability of picking two consonants?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Set A: 

Set B: 

In Set A, there are five consonants out of a total of seven letters, so the probability of drawing a consonant from Set A is .

In Set B, there are three consonants out of a total of six letters, so the probability of drawing a consonant from Set B is .

 

The question asks for the probability of drawing two consonants, meaning the probability of drawing a constant from Set A and Set B, so probability of the intersection of the two events is the product of the two probabilities:

 

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