Showing posts with label math. Show all posts
Showing posts with label math. Show all posts

Monday, November 22, 2021

GMAT math thinking skills 11



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

  1. Read the complete math problem
  2. 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

  1. Break the problem into parts. (they don't read the whole question in one assay)
  2. Analyze each part, and represent that part visually
Rarely do they write equations. 

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.


The sum of the 8 terms = 8 x 40=320.  The sum of the first six terms is 6 x 35=210.

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.

Feel free to contact me if you want to ace the math section by using simple strategies like this. 

My contact link is here:

Saturday, November 14, 2020

GMAT math thinking skills 7


You will encounter word problems like this in the GMAT.

Most of you will write equations and solve this sum. 

That approach takes a lot of time.   


I am now going to show you, two ways to solve this sum

Method 1 :  The traditional approach




This approach takes time, for those, who are not comfortable with math.

You are also prone to calculation errors.


Method 2: Substitution of numbers



This approach is a lot faster.

You can save lots of time, If you use numbers instead of variables like X and Y. You can use this approach to solve various types of sums, from different areas.

 

Let’s choose numbers such that k is greater than m.

 Lets put P =100 and E = 10 . You can choose any number…


Hence option D is correct.


If there are many variables, use method 2 to arrive at the answer faster. 


Do you want to try another question in this series.
Give it a shot
 


If you want to maximize your math scores in the GMAT.. Lets have a chat...
 

My contact link is here: