GMAT Geometry Problems on Circles, Triangles, and Polygons

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1
GMAT Quantitative Class – hung.lq.01@gmail.com

GEOMETRY 2 – PS
1

The outline of a sign for an ice-‐cream store is made by placing 3/4 of the
circumference of a circle with radius 2 feet on top of an isosceles triangle with height
5 feet, as shown above. What is the perimeter, in feet, of the sign?

(A) 3pi + 3 sqrt 3
(B) 3pi + 6 sqrt 3
(C) 3pi + 3 sqrt 33
(D) 4pi + 3 sqrt 3
(E) 4pi + 6 sqrt 3

s 3/4 of the circumference of a circle is placed on top of a triangle then the perimeter of big arc AB will be 3/4 of a
circumference so , so the answer is either A, B, or C.

Next, as big arc is 3/4 of a circumference then small arc is 1/4 of a circumference or 1/4*360=90 degrees, so .
Now, as then -‐-‐> -‐-‐
> .

The whole perimeter equals to big arc AB + AC + BC: .

Answer: B.

2 E A right triangle has sides of a, b, and 11, respectively, where a and b are both integers. What is the value of (a + b)?

A. 15
B. 57
C. 93
D. 109
E. 121

3 A
In the diagram above, angles GAF, FBE, and ECD are all
equal in measure. If line AG is the diameter of the circle and
parallel to lines BF and CE, what is the measure of angle
CFB?

A. 15
B. 20
C. 25
D. 30
E. 35

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4
In the figure above, equilateral triangle ABC is inscribed in
the circle. If the length of arc ABC is 24, what is the
approximate diameter of the circle?

A. 5
B. 8
C. 11
D. 15
E. 19

Arc ABC is 2/3 of the circumference (as ABC is equilateral triangle and thus arc AB=arc BC=arc AC, so arc AB+arc BC=arc ABC =
2/3 of circumference) -‐-‐> , hence circumference -‐-‐> .

Answer: C.

5 E
If a circle is circumscribed around a regular pentagon, as
shown above, what is the value of x?

A) 72
B) 108
C) 135
D) 140
E) 144

Each side subtends an angle of 360/5 = 72 at the center.
Then the angle of EBD = 72/2 = 36
lets assume the point where X is specified is named as F
So EBDF becomes a cyclic quadrilateral.

Hence Angle EBD and Angle EFD should be supplementary and hence X = 180 -‐ 36 = 144.

6 A If x represents the sum of the interior angles of a regular hexagon and y represents the sum of the interior angles of a regular
pentagon, then the difference between x and y is equal to the sum of the interior angles of what geometric shape?

A. Triangle
B. Square
C. Rhombus
D. Trapezoid
E. Pentagon

Regular Hexagon = 180*(6-‐2) = 180*4

Regular Pentagon = 180*(5-‐2) = 180*3

Difference = 180(4-‐3) = 180 = Triangle

Answer = A

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7
In the figure shown, what is the value of v+x+y+z+w?

(A) 45
(B) 90
(C) 180
(D) 270
(E) 360

As we can see, 5 arcs subtended by the inscribed angles (x, y, z, w,
and v) make the whole circumference. Hence the sum of the
corresponding central angles must be 360 degrees, which makes the
sum of the inscribed angels 360/2=180 degrees (according to the
Central Angle Theorem the measure of inscribed angle is always half
the measure of the central angle).

Answer: C.

8 B In the xy-‐coordinate system, rectangle ABCD is inscribed within a circle having the equation x^2 + y^2 = 25. Line segment AC is
a diagonal of the rectangle and lies on the x-‐axis. Vertex B lies in quadrant II and vertex D lies in quadrant IV. If side BC lies on
line y=3x+15, what is the area of rectangle ABCD?

A. 15
B. 30
C. 40
D. 45
E. 50

Btw, once we solve for the coordinates of B, we can also see that the y-‐coordinate of B is the height of triangle BCA which has
base as 10 and hence area of triangle BCA is 1/2*3*10 = 15 and area of rectangle is twice of that, so area is 30.

9
In the diagram above, <PQR is a right angle, and QS is
perpendicular to PR. If PS has a length of 25 and SR has a
length of 4, what is the area of triangle PQR?

A. 125
B. 145
C. 240
D. 290
E. It cannot be determined

10
B
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In the figure above, points P and Q lie on the circle with
center O. What is the value of s?

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

The line PO has slope =-‐1/√3
The line QO has slope = t/s
PO and QO is perpendicular so [-‐1/√3]*t/s = -‐1 ==> t/s =√3 or √3/1 so s = 1

11
D In the figure above, triangle ABC is equilateral, and point P
is equidistant from vertices A, B, and C. If triangle ABC is
rotated clockwise about point P, what is the minimum
number of degrees the triangle must be rotated so that
point B will be in the position where point A is now?

(A) 60
(B) 120
(C) 180
(D) 240
(E) 270

Each of the three red central angles is 120° (360/3=120). Thus in order point B to be in the position where point A is, the
triangle should be rotated clockwise by 120°+120°=240°.

Answer: D.
_______________

12 The line represented by the equation y = 4 – 2x is the perpendicular bisector of line segment RP. If R has the coordinates (4, 1),
D what are the coordinates of point P?

A. (–4, 1)
B. (–2, 2)
C. (0, 1)
D. (0, –1)
E. (2, 0)

Now, it's easy to SEE that no blue point can be the mirror reflection of R around the line but (0, -‐1).
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Answer: D.

P.S. Answer cannot possibly be E (2, 0) as this point lies on the line y=4-‐2x (substitute the values of x and y to see that it's true).

13 What is the greatest possible area of a triangular region with one vertex at the center of a circle of radius one and the other
two vertices on the circle?

A.

B.

C.

D. 1

E.

Clearly two sides of the triangle will be equal to the radius of 1.

Now, fix one of the sides horizontally and consider it to be the base of the triangle.

.

So, to maximize the area we need to maximize the height. If you visualize it, you'll see that the height will be maximized when
it's also equals to the radius thus coincides with the second side (just rotate the other side to see). which means to maximize
the area we should have the right triangle with right angle at the center.

.

Answer: B.

14 If two sides of a triangle have lengths 2 and 5, which of the following could be the perimeter of the triangle?
A
I. 9
II. 15
III. 19

(A) None
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(B) I only
(C) II only
(D) II and III only
(E) I, II, and III

The length of any side of a triangle must be larger than the positive difference of the other two sides, but smaller than the sum
of the other two sides.

Therefore:
(5-‐2) < {third side} < (5+2).

3 < {third side} < 7.

Perimeter = {third side} + 2 + 5 = {third side} + 7.

10 < {perimeter} < 14.

Answer: A.

15
The figure above shows the dimensions of a semicircular cross
section of a one-‐way tunnel. The single traffic lane is 12 feet wide
and is equidistant from the sides of the tunnel. If vehicles must
clear the top of the tunnel by at least 1/2 foot when they are
inside the traffic lane, what should be the limit on the height of
vehicles that are allowed to use the tunnel?

A. 5½ ft
B. 7½ ft
C. 8 ½ ft
D. 9½ ft
E. 10 ft

Rectangle inscribed has the length of traffic lane 12. So max
height of vehicle will be 1/2 foot less than the width of this
rectangle.

Now, let O be the center of the semi-‐circle, then
OA=radius=20/2=10 and OB=12/2=6 -‐-‐
> .

So max height of the vehicle that are allowed to use the tunnel is
8-‐0.5=7.5.

Answer: B.

16 A thin piece of wire 40 meters long is cut into two pieces. One piece is used to form a circle with radius r, and the other is used
E to form a square. No wire is left over. Which of the following represents the total area, in square meters, of the circular and
the square regions in terms of r?

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17
D In the diagram above, points A, O, and B all lie on a
diameter of the large circle, and D and d are the diameters
of the two smaller circles. If the sum of the areas of the two
smaller circles is 5/8 of the large circle’s area, what is the
ratio of D to d ?

A. 3:2
B. 5:3
C. 2:1
D. 3:1
E. 4:1

The radius of the larger circle is (D+d)/2. Its area is .

The sum of the areas of the two smaller circles is .

Given that:
;

;

;

Divide by d^2: ;

Solve for D/d: D/d=3 or D/d=1/3 (discard as D>d).

Answer: D.

18 The measures of the interior angles in a polygon are consecutive integers. The smallest angle measures 136 degrees. How
B many sides does this polygon have?

A) 8
B) 9
C) 10
D) 11
E) 13

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19 A cylindrical tank of radius R and height H must be redesigned to hold approximately twice as much liquid. Which of the
E following changes would be farthest from the new design requirements?

A. A 100% increase in R and a 50% decrease in H
B. A 30% decrease in R and a 300% increase in H
C. A 10% decrease in R and a 150% increase in H
D. A 40% increase in R and no change in H
E. A 50% increase in R and a 20% decrease in H

The wording makes the question harder than it actually is.

The question basically asks: if we have a cylindrical tank of radius R and height H, then which of the following changes will give
a cylindrical tank with the volume with greatest difference from the volume of (twice the original).

Answer E ( ) gives the greatest difference from .

20
A castle is at the center of the several flat paths which
surround it: 4 straight paths that travel from the castle to its
circular moat, where they meet up with a perfectly circular
path which borders the moat; that circular path
circumscribes a square path which has its corners at the
ends of the 4 straight paths—see the diagram to the right. If
the total length of all of the pathways is q kilometers, then
which expression represents distance from the castle to the
circular moat?

A) q / 4(2+2*sqrt(2)+pi) km
B) q / 2(2+2*sqrt(2)+pi) km

C) q / (2+2*sqrt(2)+pi) km
D) 2q / (2+2*sqrt(2)+pi) km
E) 4q / (2+2*sqrt(2)+pi) km

You can actually do it in a minute after you understand that all you need is the radius of the circle given that sum of lengths of
all lines and curves here is q.

So q is made up of the circle, the inscribed square in it and the 4 radii of the circle. Assume radius of the circle is r.
Each side of the square will be because each side makes an isosceles right triangle with two radii. Each radius is r and
sides of isosceles right triangle are in the ratio

q = Circumference of circle + Perimeter of square + 4*radius

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21D A rectangular photograph is surrounded by a border that is 1 inch wide on each side. The total area of the photograph and the
border is M square inches. If the border had been 2 inches wide on each side, the total area would have been (M + 52) square
inches. What is the perimeter of the photograph, in inches?

A. 34
B. 36
C. 38
D. 40
E. 42

22 A square wooden plaque has a square brass inlay in the center, leaving a wooden strip of uniform width around the brass
E square. If the ratio of the brass area to the wooden area is 25 to 39, which of the following could be the width, in inches, of
the wooden strip?

I. 1
II. 3
III. 4

(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) I and II only
(D) I and III only
(E) I, II , and III

23 A border of uniform width is placed around a rectangular photograph that measures 8 inches by 10 inches. If the area of the
border is 144 square inches, what is the width of the border, in inches?

(A) 3
(B) 4
(C) 6
(D) 8
(E) 9

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24
B The figure shown above consists of three identical circles
that are tangent to each other. If the area of the shaded
region is , what is the radius of each circle?

(A) 4
(B) 8
(C) 16
(D) 24
(E) 32

Let the radius of the circle be , then the side of equilateral triangle will be .

Area of the shaded region equals to area of the equilateral triangle minus area of three 60 degrees sectors.

Area of a 60 degree sector is 1/6 of the are of whole circle (as whole circle is 360 degrees and 60 is 1/6 of it), hence are of 3
such sectors will be 3/6=1/2 of the area of whole circle, so (here if you could spot that should
correspond to then you can write -‐-‐> );

Area of equilateral triangle equals to , where is the length of a side. So in our
case ;

Area of the shaded region equals to ,
so -‐-‐
> -‐-‐> .

Answer: B.

25
A In the circle above, PQ is parallel to diameter OR, and OR
has length 18. What is the length of minor arc PQ?

A.

B.

C.

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D.

E.

The Central Angle Theorem states that the measure of inscribed angle is always half the measure of the central angle.

Let C be the center of the circle.

According to the central angle theorem above <PCO=2<PRO=70.

As PQ is parallel to OR, then <QPR=<PRO=35. Again, according to the central angle theorem above <QCR=2<QPR=70.

<PCQ=180-‐(<PCO+<QCR)=180-‐70-‐70=40.

Minor arc

Answer: A.

26 The area bounded by the three curves |x + y | = 1, |x| = 1, and |y| = 1, is equal to
C
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
E. 8

27 The area bounded by the curves |x + y| = 1, |x -‐ y| = 1 is
A. 3
B. 4
C. 2
D. 1
E. None

|x+y|=1 represents two lines: x+y=1 and x+y=-‐1 -‐-‐> y=1-‐x and y=-‐1-‐x. Find the x and y intercept of these lines to plot;
|x-‐y|=1 represents two lines: x-‐y=1 and x-‐y=-‐1 -‐-‐> y=x-‐1 and y=x+1. Find the x and y intercept of these lines to plot;

Notice that these lines are mirror images of each other. Here is a square you get when you plot them:

Notice that the diagonal of this square is equal to 2 (the difference between x intercepts). Area of a square is
diagonal^2/2=2^2/2=2.

Answer: C.

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28 In the x-‐y plane, the area of the region bounded by the graph of |x+y| + |x-‐y| = 4 is
C
A. 8
B 12
C. 16
D. 20
E. 24

OK, there can be 4 cases:

|x+y| + |x-‐y| = 4

A. x+y+x-‐y = 4 -‐-‐> x=2
B. x+y-‐x+y = 4 -‐-‐> y=2
C. -‐x-‐y +x-‐y= 4 -‐-‐> y=-‐2
D. -‐x-‐y-‐x+y=4 -‐-‐> x=-‐2

The area bounded by 4 graphs x=2, x=-‐2, y=2, y=-‐2 will be square with the side of 4 so the area will be 4*4=16

29A The vertices of a rectangle in the standard (x,y) coordinate
place are (0,0), (0,4), (7,0) and (7,4). If a line through (2,2)
partitions the interior of this rectangle into 2 regions that
have equal areas, what is the slope of this line?

A. 0
B. 2/5
C. 4/7
D. 1
E. 7/4

In order the line to divide the rectangle into two equal parts
it must be horizontal. The slope of any horizontal line is
zero.

Answer: A.

30
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31D What is the area of the region enclosed by lines
, , and the upper crescent of the
circle ?

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

The circle represented by the equation x2+y2=4 is centered
at the origin and has the radius of
We need to find the area of the upper crescent, so the area
of the yellow sector. Since the central angle of this sector is
90 degrees then its area would be 1/4 of that of the circle
(since circle is 360 degrees).

The area of the circle is , 1/4 of this value
is .

32E All points (x,y) that lie below the line l, shown above, satisfy
which of the following inequalities?

A. y < 2x + 3
B. y < -‐2x + 3
C. y < -‐x + 3
D. y < 1/2*x + 3
E. y < -‐1/2*x + 3

First of all we should write the equation of the line :

We have two points: A(0,3) and B(6,0).

Equation of a line which passes through two points and is

So equation of a line which passes the points A(0,3) and B(6,0) would be: -‐-‐> -‐-‐
>

Points below this line satisfy the inequality:

OR
The equation of line which passes through the points and can be written in the following way:

Equation of a line in point intercept form is , where: is the slope of the line and is the y-‐intercept of
the line (the value of for ).

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The slope of a line, , is the ratio of the "rise" divided by the "run" between two points on a line, thus -‐-‐>
and is the value of when -‐-‐> A(0,3) -‐-‐> .

So the equation is

Points below this line satisfy the inequality: .

Actually one could guess that the answer is E at the stage of calculating the slope , as only answer choice E has
the same slope line in it.

Answer: E.

33A Set T consists of all points (x, y) such that x^2+y^2=1. If point (a, b) is selected from set T at random, what is the probability
that b>a+1?

(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)

set T is the circle itself (red curve).

Question is: if point (a,b) is selected from set T at random, what is the probability that b>a+1? All points (a,b) which satisfy
this condition (belong to T and have y-‐coordinate > x-‐coordinate + 1) lie above the line y=x+1 (blue line). You can see that
portion of the circle which is above the line is 1/4 of the whole circumference, hence P=1/4.

Answer: A.

If it were: set T consists of all points (x,y) such that (so set T consists of all points inside the circle). If point (a,b)
is selected from set T at random, what is the probability that b>a+1?

Then as the area of the segment of the circle which is above the line
is so .

Hope it's clear.

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34B The figure shows the graph of y = (x + 1)(x -‐ 1)^2 in the xy-‐
plane. At how many points does the graph of y = (x + 1)(x -‐
1)^2 + 2 intercept the x-‐axis?

A. None
B. One
C. Two
D. Three
E. Four

Thus the graph of f(x) + 2 intersect the x-‐axis at one point.

Answer: B.

35A If l1 is parallel to l2, what is x + 2y?

A. 90
B. 120
C. 180
D. 270
E. 360

Interior angle of l1 and l2 is same and equal to 2x.

Also 2x+4y = 180 which implies x+2y =90.

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36 In the rectangular coordinate system above, for which of
the shaded regions is the area 2?

A. None
B. Q Only
C. Q and R
D. P, Q and R only
E. P, Q, R and S

The area of a rectangle equals to ;

The area of a triangle equals to (also the area of a square=diagonal^2/2);

Now it's easy to calculate the areas of given figure:
;
;
;
.

Answer: D.

37 In the rectangular coordinate system above the area of
triangle PQR is what fraction of the area triangle LMN?

A. 1/9
B. 1/8
C. 1/6
D. 1/5
E. 1/3

The area of a triangle equals to .

Now the base of triangle PQR (or simply the length of line segment PR) is 4 units (the difference between x-‐coordinates of
the points P and R), and the height is also 4 units (the altitude from the point Q to the x-‐axis equals to 4 units).
So ;

Similarly the base of triangle LMN is 12 units (the difference between x-‐coordinates of the points L and N), and the height is
also 12 units (the altitude from the point M to the x-‐axis equals to 12 units). So ;

Thus .

Answer: A.

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38C Right triangle PQR is to be constructed in the xy-‐plane so that the right angle is at P and PR is parallel to the x-‐axis. The x and Y
coordinates of P,Q and R are to be integers that satisfy the inequalitites -‐4≤ X≤ 5 and 6≤ y≤ 16. How many different triangles
with these properties could be constructed?

A. 110
B. 1100
C. 9900
D. 10000
E. 12100

We have the rectangle with dimensions 10*11 (10 horizontal dots and 11 vertical). PQ is parallel to y-‐axis and PR is parallel to
x-‐axis.
Choose the (x,y) coordinates for vertex P (right angle): 10C1*11C1;
Choose the x coordinate for vertex R (as y coordinate is fixed by A): 9C1, (10-‐1=9 as 1 horizontal dot is already occupied by A);
Choose the y coordinate for vertex Q (as x coordinate is fixed by A): 10C1, (11-‐1=10 as 1 vertical dot is already occupied by A).

10C1*11C1*9C1*10C1=9900.

Answer: C.

39A In the rectangular coordinate system above, the area of
triangular region PQR is

(A) 12.5
(B) 14
(C) 10√2
(D) 16
(E) 25

Using Pythagorean theorem we can easily find that PQ and PR are 5 each. Now we have to determine is the angle PQR right
angle.

Yes it is. How we know that. Using Pythagorean theorem again we can determine that QR is simply by
solving 1^2 + 7^2 = = .

We know that PQ and QR are both 5 and their base is and that diagonale of the square is . So, triangle PQR must
be half of the square with the base of 5 or 12,5.

40C The coordinates of points A and C are (0, -‐3) and (3, 3), respectively. If point B lies on line AC between points A and C, and if AB
= 2BC, which of the following represents the coordinates of point B?
A. (1, -‐ 5)
B. (1, -‐1)
C. (2, 1)
D. (1.5, 0)
E. ( 5, 5)

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Since AB is twice the length of BC then the only acceptable
choices is C (2, 1). Two points (1, -‐ 5) and ( 5, 5) does not
lie on AC at all, (1.-‐1) is closer to A than to C and (1.5 0)
divides AC in half.

Answer: C.

2

41D If the parabola represented by f(x) = ax + bx + c passes through points (-‐3,0) , (0,3) and (5,0), which of the following must be
true?

I f(-‐1) > f(2)
II f(1) > f(0)
III f(2) > f(1)

A. only I
B. only II
c. only III
D. I and II
E. I and III

Answer to this question cannot be D, it should be B (II only).

To solve this question you don't need to calculate a, b, and c. We should put the given three points on the XY-‐plane and we'll
get: parabola will have the vertex at , halfway between and ,
as . Plus, as the parabola would be downward. As the parabola is downward, value of f(x) at
x=1, f(1), is the the greatest value of f(x). As we move from x=1 to either of direction the value of f(x) will decrease. So
any would be greater than if is closer to than . For
example or or .

Hence
I. is false, as is 1 farther from and is 2 farther than . (True inequality would
be ).

II. is true as is vertex and more than any .

III. is false as no is more than . (The correct would be ).

GMAT Geometry Problems on Circles, Triangles, and Polygons

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2/3 of circumference) -‐-‐> , hence circumference -‐-‐> .

Divide by d^2: ;

Answer E ( ) gives the greatest difference from .

correspond to then you can write -‐-‐> );

Points below this line satisfy the inequality:

and is the value of when -‐-‐> A(0,3) -‐-‐> .

So the equation is

Points below this line satisfy the inequality: .

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GMAT Geometry Problems on Circles, Triangles, and Polygons

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2/3 of circumference) -­‐-­‐> , hence circumference -­‐-­‐> .

Divide by d^2: ;

Answer E ( ) gives the greatest difference from .

correspond to then you can write -­‐-­‐> );

Points below this line satisfy the inequality:

and is the value of when -­‐-­‐> A(0,3) -­‐-­‐> .

So the equation is

Points below this line satisfy the inequality: .

You might also like

2/3 of circumference) -‐-‐> , hence circumference -‐-‐> .

correspond to then you can write -‐-‐> );

and is the value of when -‐-‐> A(0,3) -‐-‐> .