Chapter 7 Geometry100 | Math Workau Although you probably studied geometry in high school, che geometry tested on the GMAT is very different. ‘There are no proofs to memorize and regurgitate. However, there are some rules that you need to know and, as always, the GMAT swriters will ry to trick and confuse you. “The diagrams on problem-solving geometry questions are drawn roughly to scale, unless they say otherwise. This means that an angle that looks significantly bi ger than another angle probably is. However, you should know that the computet screen may occasionally distort the diagrams a bit. Don't assume that an angle looks like a 90-degree angle really is one. It might be 89 or 91 degrees. Also, ines sometimes look jagged on the screen. ‘The diagram on a data sufficiency question is a different story. Never assume data sufficiency diagram is drawn to scale. ‘Note: A significant number of GMAT questions don't provide diagrams of the fig- tures described in the questions. Don't worrys in these cases, the questions supply the information you need to simply draw them yourself. ANGLES AND LINES ‘Angles come in three flavors. Acute angles are angles of less than 90 degrees. Ob- f more than 90 degrees. Right angles are angles of exactly line makes an angle of 180 degrees. £ Ne le ‘Acute Angle Obcuse Angle Right Angle x<90 7790 2=90 (soy Line ‘When two lines intersect, they form two kinds of angles. Supplementary angles are angles that combine to form a line, Therefore, they must add up to 180 de- grees, Vertical angles are the angles across from each other, They are equal. See the diagram below. Supplementary Angles __—_Yrtical Angles at b= 180 ase b+ c= 180 bedParal bya third come in only two sizes. are equal. See the diageam below. angles Big Angles Small Angles jemewes halaxny ‘Any big angle + any small angle = 180" QUADRILATERALS “The term quadrilateral refers to any four-sided figure. ‘The only important rule that all quadrilaterals follow is that their four inside angles must add up to 360, degrees. There arc three specific types of quadrilaterals that do follow other rules: the parallelogram, the rectangle, and the squate. 1 sets of parallel lines. Because they involve the rule about two sizes of angles: The big angles are equal. A big angle and a small add up to 180°, Additionally, each side is equal in length to the side opposite it Rectangles are quadrilaterals with four right angles. This also means that theit op- posite sides are equal, Bvery rectangle is also a parallelogram. 2 7 Rectangle Geometry 181