GMAT Math Formulas List

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To achieve a good score on the math section, it is essential that you memorize the
necessary GMAT math formulas. Below, you will find a free review sheet full of
formulas that are used frequently on the quantitative section.

Algebra Formulas
Exponential Equations

xn*xm = xn + m
(xn)/(xm) = x n - m
(x/y)n = (xn)/(yn)
xn*yn = (xy)n
(xy)z = xyz
x-n = 1/(xn)
1n = 1
x0 = 1
0n = 0, except 00 = 1 or undefined
FV = CV(1 + g)T
Examples

Other

Distance = Rate*Time
Wage = Rate*Time

Arithmetic Formulas
Combinatorics

Combinations:nCk = n!/((n-k)k!)!
Permutations:nPk = n!/(n-k)!
Circular: (n-1)!
k = number of objects selected from a pile of n objects
n = total number of objects from which k objects can be selected

Fractions

(a/b)/(c/d) = (a/b) * (d/c)

Percents
Percent Change, as a decimal = (New - Old)/Old
N = (1 + G)O; N = New Value, 0 = Old Value, G = Growth Rate as decimal

Number Properties

(Odd)(Even) = Even
(Odd)(Odd) = Odd
(Even)(Even) = Even

(Odd) ± (Even) = Odd

(Odd) ± (Odd) = Even
(Even) ± (Even) = Even

(Positive)(Positive) = Positive
(Positive)(Negative) = Negative
(Negative)(Negative) = Positive
(Positive)/(Negative) = Negative
(Positive)/(Positive) = Positive
(Negative)/(Negative) = Positive

Statistics

Average (Arithmetic Mean): (sum of all numbers)/(number of numbers)

Geometry Formulas
Angles

Sum of Interior Angles of Polygon = (n-2)(180)

n = number of sides of a polygon
Central Angle = 2(Inscribed Angle)

Area

Square: A = a2
Rectangle: A = lw
Parallelogram: A = bh
Trapezoid: A = .5(a+c)h, where a and c are the lengths of the parallel sides

Circles

π = pi = 3.1415
Area: A = πr2
Circumference: C = 2πr
Central Angle = 2(Inscribed Angle)
Area of Sector = (x/360)πr2

Perimeter

Square: P = 4l
Rectangle: P = 2w + 2l
Parallelogram: P = 2b + 2a, where a and b are the lengths of the non-parallel sides
Circle: P = 2πr

Triangles

Area: A = .5bh
Pythagorean Theorem: A2 + B2 = C2 where A = one leg, B = the other leg, C =
hypotenuse

Volume

Cube: V = a3 where a is the length of a side

Rectangular Solid: V = hwl
Cylinder: V = πr2h

Sphere : 4/3 Pi R^3

SA of Sphere : 4*Pi*R^2

SA of Cylinder : 2*Pi*R^2 +2*Pi*R*H

Compund Interest :

Where,

• P = principal amount (initial investment)

• r = annual nominal interest rate (as a decimal)
• n = number of times the interest is compounded per year
• t = number of years
• A = amount after time t
AP :

arithmetic progression: a, a + d, a + 2d, a + 3d, . . .

The nth term of an a.p. is given by: a + (n − 1)d

The sum of the first n terms of an a.p. is

Sn =n / 2 * (2a + (n − 1)d)

GP :

geometric progression: a, ar, ar2, ar3 , ...

The nth term of a g.p. is given by: ar(n−1)

The sum of the first n terms of a g.p. is
Sn =a(1 − rn) /(1 − r) (valid only if r _= 1)

If the common ratio in a geometric series is less than 1 in modulus,

(that is −1 < r < 1), the sum of an infinite number of terms can be
found. This is known as the sum to infinity,

S∞ =a / (1 − r) provided − 1 < r < 1

Number Properties :

SD= Sq Root (Variance)

SD =

Coordinate Geometry

Where is the gradient (or slope) of the line and is the y intercept i.e. where the line
crosses the y-axis.

Point Slope form : Used when you know of can find a point on the line

y-y1=m(x-x1)

Slope : m= (y2-y1) / (x2-x1)

Horizonatal Line : 0 slope
Vertical Line : No Slope

Distance between 2 points :

Mid Point of a line : (x1+x2) / 2 , (y1+y2)/2

Triangle :

equilateral triangle =

triangle given a,b,c = [s(s-a)(s-b)(s-c)] when s = (a+b+c)/2 (Heron's formula)

triangle given SAS (two sides and the opposite angle)

= (1/2) a b sin C

Triangle(45,45,90) : 1,1,sqrt 2
Triangle (30,60,90) : 1,sqrt(3),2

Approaches:
Mixture Problems :

Mixture Problems

Definitions:

Solution- a substance dissolved in liquid

Concentration -percentage of the substance in the solution.

Mixture - two substances combined.

Example:

A chemist has one solution that is 30% pure salt and another solution that is 60%
pure salt. How many ounces of solution 1 must he use to produce 60 ounces of a
solution that is 50% salt?

(A) 10
(B) 15

(C) 20

(D) 25

(E) 30

Solution:

The easiest way to solve this problem is with a table.

We let x = the total amount of ounces in solution I.

We add the values of the last column and set them to equal 30, the amount of salt in
the mixed solution.

0.3x + 36 - 0.6x = 30

6 = 0.3x

x = 20

TIME /RATE/DISTANCE :

One hour after Yolanda started walig from X to Y, a distance of 45 miles, Bob started
walking along the same road from Y to X. If Yolanda’s walking rate was 3 miles per
hour and Bob’s was 4 miles per hour, how many miles has bBob walked when they
met?

(A) 24

(B) 23

(C) 22

(D) 21

(E) 19.5
Solution:

We can make a quick diagram of the problem.

One way to solve this problem is with a table. We want to know the distance Bob
walked. The distance Bob walked is our variable.

Let x = the distance Bob walked.

Together Yolanda and Bob walked 45 miles, so Yolanda walked 45 -x miles when
they met. We are given the rate at which both of them walk. We are told Yolanda
walked 1 more hour than Bob. If Bob walked t,Yolanda walked t + 1. The results are
summarrized in the table below.

We get two equations:

i)x = 4t

ii)45 - x = 3t + 3

We can substitute the value of x in i) into ii)

45 - 4t = 3t + 3

7t = 42

t=6

Since we are looking for x, we substitute t back into i)

x = 4t = 4 x 6 = 24

The correct answer is A.

There is a much faster way to solve this problem.

Yolanda started walking for an hour at 3mph, so after an hour she walk 3 miles. The
distance they have to now cover is 42 miles.

Now Bob starts walking and Yolanda and Bob are walking toward each other at a
relative rate of 3+ 4= 7 mph. They have to cover 42 miles walking at a combined
rate of 7mph.

D=RxT

42 = 7t

t=6

It will take them 6 hours to meet.

Bob’s distance= R x T = 4 x 6 = 24

SET VENN DIAGRAM FORMULAE:

If there are three sets A, B, and C, then

P(AuBuC) = P(A) + P(B) + P(C) – P(AnB) – P(AnC) – P(BnC) + P(AnBnC)

Number of people in exactly one set =

P(A) + P(B) + P(C) – 2P(AnB) – 2P(AnC) – 2P(BnC) + 3P(AnBnC)

Number of people in exactly two of the sets =

P(AnB) + P(AnC) + P(BnC) – 3P(AnBnC)

Number of people in exactly three of the sets =

P(AnBnC)
Number of people in two or more sets =
P(AnB) + P(AnC) + P(BnC) – 2P(AnBnC)

Number of Ways of Arrangening like objects :

The number of ways of arranging n objects, of which p of one type are alike, q of a
second type are alike, r of a third type are alike, etc is:
n!/(p! q! r!) …

Example

In how many ways can the letters in the word: STATISTICS be arranged?
There are 3 S’s, 2 I’s and 3 T’s in this word, therefore, the number of ways of arranging
the letters are:
10! = 50 400
3! 2! 3!

Rings and Roundabouts

The number of ways of arranging n unlike objects in a ring when clockwise and
anticlockwise arrangements are different is (n – 1)!
When clockwise and anti-clockwise arrangements are the same, the number of ways is ½
(n – 1)!

Example

Ten people go to a party. How many different ways can they be seated?
Anti-clockwise and clockwise arrangements are the same. Therefore, the total number of
ways is ½ (10-1)! = 181 440
Combinations
The number of ways of selecting r objects from n unlike objects is:
nCr = n!/r! (n – r)!

Example

There are 10 balls in a bag numbered from 1 to 10. Three balls are selected at random.
How many different ways are there of selecting the three balls?
10C3 = 10! = 10 × 9 × 8 = 120
3! (10 – 3)! 3 × 2 × 1

Probability can be studied in conjunction with set theory, with Venn Diagrams
being particularly useful in analysis.
The probability of a certain event occurring, for example, can be represented by P(A).
The probability of a different event occurring can be written P(B). Clearly, therefore, for
two events A and B,
P(A) + P(B) - P(AnB) = P(AuB)
P(AnB) represents the probability of A AND B occurring. P(AuB) represents the
probability of A OR B occurring

Arranging Objects

The number of ways of arranging n unlike objects in a line is n! (pronounced ‘n

factorial’). n! = n × (n – 1) × (n – 2) ×…× 3 × 2 × 1

Example
How many different ways can the letters P, Q, R, S be arranged?
The answer is 4! = 24.

This is because there are four spaces to be filled: _, _, _, _

The first space can be filled by any one of the four letters. The second space can be filled
by any of the remaining 3 letters. The third space can be filled by any of the 2 remaining
letters and the final space must be filled by the one remaining letter. The total number of
possible arrangements is therefore 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 4!
The number of ways of arranging n objects, of which p of one type are alike, q of a
second type are alike, r of a third type are alike, etc is:
n!/(p! q! r!) …

Example

In how many ways can the letters in the word: STATISTICS be arranged?
There are 3 S’s, 2 I’s and 3 T’s in this word, therefore, the number of ways of arranging
the letters are:
10! = 50 400
3! 2! 3!
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Rings and Roundabouts

The number of ways of arranging n unlike objects in a ring when clockwise and
anticlockwise arrangements are different is (n – 1)!
When clockwise and anti-clockwise arrangements are the same, the number of ways is ½
(n – 1)!

Example

Ten people go to a party. How many different ways can they be seated?
Anti-clockwise and clockwise arrangements are the same. Therefore, the total number of
ways is ½ (10-1)! = 181 440
Combinations
The number of ways of selecting r objects from n unlike objects is:
nCr = n!/r! (n – r)!

Example

There are 10 balls in a bag numbered from 1 to 10. Three balls are selected at random.
How many different ways are there of selecting the three balls?
10C3 = 10! = 10 × 9 × 8 = 120
3! (10 – 3)! 3 × 2 × 1

Permutations

A permutation is an ordered arrangement.

The number of ordered arrangements of r objects taken from n unlike objects is:
nPr = n!/(n – r)!

Example

In the Match of the Day’s goal of the month competition, you had to pick the top 3 goals
out of 10. Since the order is important, it is the permutation formula which we use.
10P3 = 10!/7! = 720

There are therefore 720 different ways of picking the top three goals.

Probability

The above facts can be used to help solve problems in probability.

Example

In the National Lottery, 6 numbers are chosen from 49. You win if the 6 balls you pick
match the six balls selected by the machine. What is the probability of winning the
National Lottery?
The number of ways of choosing 6 numbers from 49 is 49C6 = 13 983 816 .
Therefore the probability of winning the lottery is 1/13983816 = 0.000 000 071 5 (3sf),
which is about a 1 in 14 million chance

The probability of an event occurring is the chance or likelihood of it occurring. The

probability of an event A, written P(A), can be between zero and one, with P(A) = 1
indicating that the event will certainly happen and with P(A) = 0 indicating that event A
will certainly not happen.

Probability = the number of successful outcomes of an experiment

the number of possible outcomes
So, for example, if a coin were tossed, the probability of obtaining a head = ½, since there
are 2 possible outcomes (heads or tails) and 1 of these is the ‘successful’ outcome.

Using Set Notation

Probability can be studied in conjunction with set theory, with Venn Diagrams being
particularly useful in analysis.
The probability of a certain event occurring, for example, can be represented by P(A).
The probability of a different event occurring can be written P(B). Clearly, therefore, for
two events A and B,
P(A) + P(B) - P(AnB) = P(AuB)
P(AnB) represents the probability of A AND B occurring. P(AuB) represents the
probability of A OR B occurring.

Mutual Exclusive Events

Events A and B are mutually exclusive if they have no events in common. In other words,
if A occurs B cannot occur and vice-versa. On a Venn Diagram, this would mean that the
circles representing events A and B would not overlap.

If, for example, we are asked to pick a card from a pack of 52, the probability that the
card is red is ½ . The probability that the card is a club is ¼. However, if the card is red it
can't be a club. These events are therefore mutually exclusive.
If two events are mutually exclusive, P(AnB) = 0, so
P(A) + P(B) = P(AuB)

Independent Events

Two events are independent if the first one does not influence the second. For example, if
a bag contains 2 blue balls and 2 red balls and two balls are selected randomly, the events
are:
a) independent if the first ball is replaced after being selected
b) not independent if the first ball is removed without being replaced. In this instance,
there are only three balls remaining in the bag so the probabilities of selecting the various
colours have changed.
Two events are independent if (and only if):
P(AnB) = P(A)P(B)
This is known as the multiplication law.
Conditional Probability

Conditional probability is the probability of an event occurring, given that another event
has occurred. For example, the probability of John doing mathematics at A-Level, given
that he is doing physics may be quite high. P(A|B) means the probability of A occurring,
given that B has occurred. For two events A and B,
P(AnB) = P(A|B)P(B)
and similarly P(AnB) = P(B|A)P(A).
If two events are mutually exclusive, then P(A|B) = 0 .

Example

A six-sided die is thrown. What is the probability that the number thrown is prime, given
that it is odd.
The probability of obtaining an odd number is 3/6 = ½. Of these odd numbers, 2 of them
are prime (3 and 5).
P(prime | odd) = P(prime and odd) = 2/6 = 2/3
P(odd) 3/6.