All ISEE Upper Level Quantitative Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Parallelograms
In the above parallelogram, is acute. Which is the greater quantity?
(A) The area of the parallelogram
(B) 120 square inches
(A) is greater
(B) is greater
It is impossible to determine which is greater from the information given
(A) and (B) are equal
(B) is greater
Since is acute, a right triangle can be constructed with an altitude as one leg and a side as the hypotenuse, as is shown here. The height of the triangle must be less than its sidelength of 8 inches.
The height of the parallelogram must be less than its sidelength of 8 inches.
The area of the parallelogram is the product of the base and the height - which is
Therefore,
(B) is greater.
Example Question #1 : Parallelograms
Parallelogram A is below:
Parallelogram B is below:
Note: These figures are NOT drawn to scale.
Refer to the parallelograms above. Which is the greater quantity?
(A) The area of parallelogram A
(B) The area of parallelogram B
It is impossible to determine which is greater from the information given
(A) and (B) are equal
(A) is greater
(B) is greater
(A) and (B) are equal
The area of a parallelogram is the product of its height and its base; its slant length is irrelevant. Both parallelograms have the same height (8 inches) and the same base (1 foot, or 12 inches), so they have the same areas.
Example Question #1 : How To Find The Area Of A Parallelogram
Figure NOT drawn to scale
The above figure shows Rhombus ; and are midpoints of their respective sides. Rectangle has area 150.
Give the area of Rhombus .
A rhombus, by definition, has four sides of equal length. Therefore, . Also, since and are the midpoints of their respective sides,
We will assign to the common length of the four half-sides of the rhombus.
Also, both and are altitudes of the rhombus; the are congruent, and we will call their common length (height).
The figure, with the lengths, is below.
Rectangle has dimensions and ; its area, 150, is the product of these dimensions, so
The area of the entire Rhombus is the product of its height and the length of a base , so
.
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