GRE Arithmetic

The GRE’s Quantitative Section contains Quantitative Comparison questions, Data Interpretation questions, and Problem-Solving Questions, which include arithmetics.

GRE Problems

The Arithmetic part of the GRE exam consists of several multiple choice questions on various topics, including:

• Arithmetic operations
• Special operations, radical expressions
• Powers
• Properties of numbers, including percentages, absolute values, and more.

The GRE contains approximately 10 quantitative problems, some of which include arithmetic problems. You will have approximately 1.5 minutes to solve these questions, which means you need to work on your timing.

Arithmetic Examples:

Here are 2 sample questions. Similar questions may appear on a GRE test, so you should pay attention and make sure you’re able to solve questions of similar type and difficulty level.

I’m fixing my floor using blue square tiles. Each tile has a perimeter of 24 inches. My floor has the following dimensions, in inches: 42×78. How many tiles will I need?

Answer: First, let’s find the dimensions of each square. Since the tiles are square and the perimeter is 24, each side is 24/4 = 6 inches. Now, the length of the floor is 78, which means we’ll need 13 tiles for that side, and 7 tiles for the 42 inch width of the floor. In total I’ll need 7×13 = 91 tiles. The answer is 91.

I have a set of 5 positive, distinct integers: {v, w, x, y, z}. The median of the set is 9, and the lowest value v=6. What is the minimum value of ?

Answer: Well, we know the median, call it x, is 9. We also know that the integers are all positive and distinct. Our lowest value is 6. The next value can be at minimum 7. Now, the next values must be higher than 9, so at minimum they can only be 10 and 11. The total minimum value is: . That’s the answer, 43.

Note how in these questions we need to use arithmetic- we’ve used simple numeric operations, averages (median in this case), and properties of squares. These simple concepts are important for solving the GRE.

Online GRE Practice Tests

Here are some practice problems that’ll help you prepare for the Quantitative Section of the GRE:

GRE Arithmetic Practice (10 questions), GRE Arithmetic (5 questions), GRE Quantitative (10 questions), GRE Quantitative Practice (10 questions), GRE Quantitative Practice Test (10 questions), GRE Quantitative Questions (10 questions), GRE Quantitative Comparison (10 questions).

Find Out More!

Don’t forget to practice the other sections of the GRE! There’s the Data Interpretation section, the Quantitative Comparison Section, and of course the Problem Solving Section. Good luck!