GMAT tests your logical skills as well as your knowledge of math concepts. To score high, you need to remember various formulas, theorems. Also you need to master critical problem-solving skills.
Today I am going to take you through one problem -solving skill – Diagramming
Students with a non-math background usually.. do this
- Read the complete math problem
- Write equations.
Solving equations is time consuming. You can make mistakes too..if your are not careful.
Students who are fairly proficient in quantitative reasoning..do this
- Break the problem into parts. (they don't read the whole question in one assay)
- Analyze each part, and represent that part visually
Then they do mental calculations
This approach saves time...
Lets take this math problem
Observe the problem solving process…
If the average number of 8 terms is given to be 40 and the average of first 6 terms is given to be 35. What is the average of the remaining 2 terms?
Method 1:Conventional approach
Average = sum of numbers/ number of items
Average of 8 terms = 40
So let the 8 terms be a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h
(a+b+c+d+e+f+g+h)/8 = 40
(a+b+c+d+e+f+g+h) = 40*8 = 320…..equation (i)
(a+b+c+d+e+f)/6 = 35
(a+b+c+d+e+f) = 35*6 = 210…..equation (ii)
Subtract both equations to get g+h
g+h= 320-210= 110
Average = 110/2 = 55
Method 2: Visualization
Let's visually represent the sum
Let's take 8 terms as 8 dashes.
Subtract both sums to get the sum of the remaining terms = 320 - 210= 110
Hence average =110/2=55
The second method takes less time too.
So even if you have non math background, you can ace the math section by writing less equations and drawing more diagrams.
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