Solve GRE Maths Questions | Get Answers & Prep for Graduate School

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around solving GRE mathematics questions, with participants sharing problems they encountered and seeking assistance. The scope includes various mathematical concepts and problem-solving strategies relevant to GRE preparation.

Discussion Character

  • Homework-related
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant presents several GRE math questions, expressing uncertainty about their solutions and the validity of the questions.
  • Another participant suggests that the first question can be solved by cross-checking the answers, proposing one of the options as correct.
  • For the second question, a participant indicates that all options could be valid, depending on the interpretation of the problem.
  • One participant claims that the third question has infinite solutions if integers are considered, while another suggests that there are four solutions under certain conditions.
  • Responses to the fourth question involve calculations to determine the percentage of a liquid in a mixture, with one participant providing a detailed solution.
  • For the fifth question, participants discuss the maximum number of different positive integers that can sum to less than 100, with one suggesting a specific value.
  • In response to the sixth question, one participant states that the standard deviation should be equal for both sets of data, while another agrees but does not elaborate further.
  • For the seventh question, participants note that the mean cannot be determined from the given mode, indicating uncertainty in the relationship between the two.
  • The eighth question prompts a discussion about the nature of the series involved, with one participant suggesting it resembles a Fibonacci sequence and expressing difficulty in finding a simple solution.
  • Additional questions are posed regarding even integers and probability, with participants providing their answers and seeking confirmation.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on several questions, with no consensus reached on many of the solutions. Some solutions are contested, and multiple interpretations of the problems are presented.

Contextual Notes

Some questions may contain errors or ambiguities, as noted by participants. The discussion reflects a range of mathematical reasoning and problem-solving approaches, with varying degrees of confidence in the proposed solutions.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals preparing for the GRE, particularly those focusing on mathematics, may find the shared questions and discussions beneficial for understanding problem-solving strategies and common pitfalls.

KevinItIs
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Hia,

This being my first post here, I would like to give a short introduction. I am 24 and preparing for the GRE so that I can get into graduate school, I ultimately want a Phd in Artificial Intelligence. So to reach my goal, this GRE has to be taken, and taken soon. Maths is sure of high school level but sure is a lot trickier than meets the eye. I took the GRE once but bcoz of maths had to cancel scores. This time around, the preparations's going to be intensive. I solved all the books I could get my hands on but there are a few questions I couldn't solve, or was doubtful bout them. I am posting them here and hope someone would lend a hand. The problem is that the source where I got the questions from doesn't have answers. So if you know how to solve them, Please be kind enough to tell me how. BTW the GRE gives you 45 minutes for 28 questions, so faster the solutions, the better. Well I guess, that's all the ado that's needed. Here are the questions:


1.Given A, B, C and D as four consecutive numbers,

6.jpg

if AD: AB = 9: 1 and AD: AC = 4:1, then what is the value of A, B, C and D?

A. -20, -16, -11, 16
B. -24, -20, 16, 36
C. -24, -4, 16, 36
& so on??

2. A number n when divided by 24 gives 21 as remainder. Which of the following can be the quotient?

A. 3
B. 4
C. 5
D. 6
E. 7

3. For the equation x^2- x- 2<or= 0; how many solutions are possible?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
& so on?.

4. By weight liquid A makes up 7% of solution-I and 14.5% of solution-II. If 3 grams of solution-I is mixed with 2 grams of solution-II, then liquid A accounts for what percentage of weight of resulting solution?

5. If the sum of n different positive integers is less than 100, then what is the greatest possible value of n?

6. If the standard deviation of w + 6, x + 6, y + 6 is d, then is it greater than or less than r equal to the Standard Deviation of w, x, y

7. Given mode of a set as 70.
Col A: Mean of the set
Col B: 70


a. A greater
b. B greater
c. A and B equal
d. Answer can't be deducted from the data given.

8. Given a series a1, a2...an. If a1 =4, a2 =-5 and an= a(n-1)+a(n-2), then
find the sum of first 100 numbers in the series?
[NOTE: 1, 2, (n- 2), (n-1) and n in the above question are subscripts].

....................

Please not that the questions CAN be wrong since the source isn't verifiable. Still these questions are important.

Here are my solutions, please correct if I am wrong.

1. No idea
2. All options are right
3. Infinite as x can be less than -1
4. 50%
5. 13
6. Same?
7. Option (d)
8. No Idea
 
Mathematics news on Phys.org
Please see my responses labelled RDV

KevinItIs said:
Hia,

This being my first post here, I would like to give a short introduction. I am 24 and preparing for the GRE so that I can get into graduate school, I ultimately want a Phd in Artificial Intelligence. So to reach my goal, this GRE has to be taken, and taken soon. Maths is sure of high school level but sure is a lot trickier than meets the eye. I took the GRE once but bcoz of maths had to cancel scores. This time around, the preparations's going to be intensive. I solved all the books I could get my hands on but there are a few questions I couldn't solve, or was doubtful bout them. I am posting them here and hope someone would lend a hand. The problem is that the source where I got the questions from doesn't have answers. So if you know how to solve them, Please be kind enough to tell me how. BTW the GRE gives you 45 minutes for 28 questions, so faster the solutions, the better. Well I guess, that's all the ado that's needed. Here are the questions:


1.Given A, B, C and D as four consecutive numbers,

6.jpg

if AD: AB = 9: 1 and AD: AC = 4:1, then what is the value of A, B, C and D?

A. -20, -16, -11, 16
B. -24, -20, 16, 36
C. -24, -4, 16, 36
& so on??

[RDV: This should be done via cross checking the answers.. A is the answer]

2. A number n when divided by 24 gives 21 as remainder. Which of the following can be the quotient?

A. 3
B. 4
C. 5
D. 6
E. 7

3. For the equation x^2- x- 2<or= 0; how many solutions are possible?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
& so on?.

[RDV: if x is said to be an integer, then 4 solutions are possible: -1,0,1 and 2. If any other integer is substituted for x, inequality would fail]

4. By weight liquid A makes up 7% of solution-I and 14.5% of solution-II. If 3 grams of solution-I is mixed with 2 grams of solution-II, then liquid A accounts for what percentage of weight of resulting solution?

[RDV: Let both Solution 1 and Solution 2 are 100 gms, hence A1=7 and A2=14.5
therefore, in 3gm solution: A1=3*7/100=.21 and A2=2*14.5/100=.29
hence, total A=.21+.29=.5
Total solution=5 gm
hence, A%=.5/5 *100=10%]

5. If the sum of n different positive integers is less than 100, then what is the greatest possible value of n?

6. If the standard deviation of w + 6, x + 6, y + 6 is d, then is it greater than or less than r equal to the Standard Deviation of w, x, y

7. Given mode of a set as 70.
Col A: Mean of the set
Col B: 70


a. A greater
b. B greater
c. A and B equal
d. Answer can't be deducted from the data given.

8. Given a series a1, a2...an. If a1 =4, a2 =-5 and an= a(n-1)+a(n-2), then
find the sum of first 100 numbers in the series?
[NOTE: 1, 2, (n- 2), (n-1) and n in the above question are subscripts].

....................

Please not that the questions CAN be wrong since the source isn't verifiable. Still these questions are important.

Here are my solutions, please correct if I am wrong.

1. No idea
2. All options are right
3. Infinite as x can be less than -1
4. 50%
5. 13
6. Same?
7. Option (d)
8. No Idea
 
5.
For this one just plug in the multiple choice into the formula
n(n+1)/2
 
For Question 6: SD should be equal for both set of data.
For Question 7: You cannot find it from given data.
For Question 8: Well, this seems to be a different question, i guess answer options should help in zeroing out the answer.
Now to slove it:
a1= 4, a2=-5, a3=a1+a2, a4=a3+a2=a1+2*a2.. and so on..
so sum of n terms: a1 + (a1+a2)(1+1+2+3+5+8+13...)
This is a fibonacci series.. there is no simple way of finding out the sum of this series.. but definitely.. the answer should be most negative value.
 
RDV said:
For Question 6: SD should be equal for both set of data.
For Question 7: You cannot find it from given data.
For Question 8: Well, this seems to be a different question, i guess answer options should help in zeroing out the answer.
Now to slove it:
a1= 4, a2=-5, a3=a1+a2, a4=a3+a2=a1+2*a2.. and so on..
so sum of n terms: a1 + (a1+a2)(1+1+2+3+5+8+13...)
This is a fibonacci series.. there is no simple way of finding out the sum of this series.. but definitely.. the answer should be most negative value.

Thanks a lot. You guys have been great. I mean I was struggling over these questions for so long, and you guys solved them in the blink of an eye, lol.

No Seriously, Thank you, a lot.

One doubt remains:

8. In the GRE the answers are close enough, e.g., choices can be as close as -10001 and -10002, -10003, In that case can you help how choose the answer?

And, as I keep doing questions, the doubts would keep coming, hope you guys won't mind If I chip in a few more everyday after the end of my study sessions,

Here are some more in the next post.

Thanks a lot once more, you pulled me out of my misery.
 
DavidSnider said:
5.
For this one just plug in the multiple choice into the formula
n(n+1)/2

I did that myself . Wanted to confirm. Thank You.
 
More questions:


9. Given N= v*w*x*y*z - (v+w+x+y+z). If N is an even integer, then how many of v, w, x, y, z will need to be even numbers?

My Ans: All

10. If |x|<or= 6; |y|<or= 4, then find the greatest possible value of |x/y|.

My Ans: 3/2

11. The probability of raining tomorrow is 0.49.
Col A: The probability that it will rain tomorrow and George eats the food
Col B: 0.54

My ans: .49 * .54= .2646


12. If twice the average of x, y and z, when divided by 7 gives remainder 1, then what is the remainder, when average x, y and z is divided by 7?

My ans: 2

13. What is the least common factor of 123 × 255
A. 3
B. 7
C. 17
& so on?.

My Ans: 3

14. Col A: 1/25+1/26+1/27+1/28+1/29+1/30
Col B: 0.2

a. A greater
b. B greater
c. A and B equal
d. Answer can't be deducted from the data given.

[This is a simple calculation but can can anyone tell me how to solve it in a minute or so? Some short cut method?]
 
for q14
0.2 = 6/30 = 1/30 + 1/30 + 1/30+1/30+1/30+1/30 < 1/25+1/26+1/27+1/28+1/29+1/30
so column A is greater

and for 10, what if x = 5 and y = 0.00000000000000000000001?and for 9.

(1,3,5,7,9) none of the nubmers are even but N is even.
 
Last edited:
boboYO said:
for q14
0.2 = 6/30 = 1/30 + 1/30 + 1/30+1/30+1/30+1/30 < 1/25+1/26+1/27+1/28+1/29+1/30
so column A is greater

and for 10, what if x = 5 and y = 0.00000000000000000000001?


and for 9.

(1,3,5,7,9) none of the nubmers are even but N is even.

Yes, all 3 seem correct. You are a GENIUS.
 
  • #10
Any help for the others??
 
  • #11
Maths People, answer to the wailing of a child lost amongst mindless puzzles...
 
  • #12
KevinItIs said:
Maths People, answer to the wailing of a child lost amongst mindless puzzles...

Question 8 is interesting.

The recurrence relation is the same as the Fibonacci series but the starting conditions are different. This series can be written as a linear combination of two Fibonacci series. In particular :

a_k = 4 F_k - 9 F_{k-1}\,\,\,\,\, : k \geq 1.

Where F_k is the kth term in the Fibonacci series.
BTW : The multiple of 4 is from the first term in the series and the multiple of -9 from 4 - 9= -5, the second term in the series.

The Fibonacci series has many interesting properties and one of them is that the sum of the first N terms of the series is exactly one less than the (N+2)th term (for example the sum of the first 5 terms is equal to the 7th term minus 1). The sum of the first 100 terms of our series can therefore be written as :

\sum_{k=1}^{100} a_k = 4 (F_{102} - 1) - 9 (F_{101} - 1)

\sum_{k=1}^{100} a_k = 4 F_{102} - 9 F_{101} + 5

Since this is the difference of two very large numbers it's probably worthwhile collapsing it a bit before evaluation. You can collapse this series from it's tail by using the recursion relation F_(k+2) = F_k + F_(k+1) a few times. For example if i apply that relation to the F_102 term in the above expression I get :

\sum_{k=1}^{100} a_k = 4 F_{100} - 5 F_{101} + 5

And doing it once more, this time with the F_101 term I get :

\sum_{k=1}^{100} a_k = -F_{100} - 5 F_{99} + 5

There's no point going any further as the coefficients will just get larger, this is a good point to stop as the two Fibonacci terms are both the same sign.

Finally you can express the Fibonacci terms (and hence the desired sum) in closed form using another interesting property of the Fibonacci series. That being :

F_k = \frac{1}{\sqrt{5}} \left( p^k - q^k \right)

Where p = (1+\sqrt{5})/2 and q = (1 -p).

BTW. Numerically the sum comes out at approx -1.4488 \times 10^{21}
 
Last edited:

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