All ISEE Upper Level Quantitative Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : How To Find The Area Of A Trapezoid
In the above figure, is the midsegment of Trapezoid .
Which is the greater quantity?
(a) Three times the area of Trapezoid
(b) Twice the area of Trapezoid
(b) is the greater quantity
(a) and (b) are equal
It is impossible to determine which is greater from the information given
(a) is the greater quantity
(b) is the greater quantity
Midsegment divides Trapezoid into two trapezoids of the same height, which we will call ; the length of the midsegment is half sum of the lengths of the bases:
The area of a trapezoid is one half multiplied by its height multiplied by the sum of the lengths of its bases. Therefore, the area of Trapezoid is
.
Three times this is
.
The area of Trapezoid is, similarly,
Twice this is
.
That makes (b) the greater quantity.
Example Question #9 : How To Find The Area Of A Trapezoid
Figure NOT drawn to scale.
The above figure depicts Trapezoid with midsegment . , and .
Give the area of Trapezoid .
One way to calculate the area of a trapezoid is to multiply the length of its midsegment, which is 20, and its height, which here is
Midsegment bisects both legs of Trapezoid , in particular, . Since , .
Therefore, the area of the trapezoid is
Note that the length of is irrelevant to the problem.
Example Question #1 : How To Find The Length Of The Side Of A Trapezoid
In the above diagram, which depicts Trapezoid , and . Which is the greater quantity?
(a)
(b) 24
(b) is the greater quantity
To see that (b) is the greater quantity of the two, it suffices to construct the midsegment of the trapezoid - the segment which has as its endpoints the midpoints of legs and . Since and , the midsegment, , is positioned as follows:
The length of the midsegment is half the sum of the bases, so
, so .
Example Question #51 : Quadrilaterals
Figure NOT drawn to scale.
The above figure depicts Trapezoid with midsegment . , and .
Give the area of Trapezoid in terms of .
The midsegment of a trapezoid has as its length half the sum of the lengths of the bases, which here are and :
Therefore,
The area of Trapezoid is one half multiplied by the height, , multiplied by the sum of the lengths of the bases, and . The midsegment of a trapezoid bisects both legs, so , and the area is
Example Question #51 : Quadrilaterals
The above figure depicts Trapezoid with midsegment . Express in terms of .
The midsegment of a trapezoid has as its length half the sum of the lengths of the bases, which here are and :
The correct choice is .
Example Question #52 : Quadrilaterals
Given Trapezoid , where . Also,
Which is the greater quantity?
(a)
(b)
(a) is greater
It is impossible to tell from the information given
(b) is greater
(a) and (b) are equal
(a) is greater
and are same-side interior angles, as are and .
The Same-Side Interior Angles Theorem states that if two parallel lines are crossed by a transversal, then the sum of the measures of a pair of same-side interior angles is always . Therefore,
, or
, or
Substitute:
(a) is the greater quantity
Example Question #51 : Quadrilaterals
Consider trapezoid , where . Also, is acute and is obtuse.
Which is the greater quantity?
(a)
(b)
(a) is greater.
(a) and (b) are equal.
It is impossible to tell from the information given.
(b) is greater.
(b) is greater.
and are same-side interior angles, as are and .
The Same-Side Interior Angles Theorem states that if two parallel lines are crossed by a transversal, then same-side interior angles are supplementary. A pair of supplementary angles comprises either two right angles, or one acute angle and one obtuse angle. Since is acute and is obtuse, is obtuse and is acute. Therefore the greater measure of the two, making (b) greater.
Example Question #53 : Quadrilaterals
The above diagram depicts trapezoid . Which is the greater quantity?
(a)
(b)
It is impossible to tell from the information given.
(b) is greater.
(a) is greater.
(a) and (b) are equal.
(a) and (b) are equal.
; and are same-side interior angles, as are and .
The Same-Side Interior Angles Theorem states that if two parallel lines are crossed by a transversal, then the sum of the measures of a pair of same-side interior angles is always .
Therefore, , making the two quantities equal.
Example Question #1 : Parallelograms
In the above parallelogram, is acute. Which is the greater quantity?
(A) The area of the parallelogram
(B) 120 square inches
(B) is greater
(A) and (B) are equal
(A) is greater
It is impossible to determine which is greater from the information given
(B) is greater
Since is acute, a right triangle can be constructed with an altitude as one leg and a side as the hypotenuse, as is shown here. The height of the triangle must be less than its sidelength of 8 inches.
The height of the parallelogram must be less than its sidelength of 8 inches.
The area of the parallelogram is the product of the base and the height - which is
Therefore,
(B) is greater.
Example Question #1 : Parallelograms
Parallelogram A is below:
Parallelogram B is below:
Note: These figures are NOT drawn to scale.
Refer to the parallelograms above. Which is the greater quantity?
(A) The area of parallelogram A
(B) The area of parallelogram B
It is impossible to determine which is greater from the information given
(A) and (B) are equal
(A) is greater
(B) is greater
(A) and (B) are equal
The area of a parallelogram is the product of its height and its base; its slant length is irrelevant. Both parallelograms have the same height (8 inches) and the same base (1 foot, or 12 inches), so they have the same areas.