Question 1 of 25
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Basic Math
Practice Test 5 for Basic Math: real questions and explanations from the Varsity Tutors practice-test pool.
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Question 1 of 25
Solve:
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Solve:
Explanation: Use order of operations, PEMDAS (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction) to solve.
Since there are no parentheses or exponents we can go straight to multiplication and division.
and
Therefore the following happens:
Then add and subtract.
In March, an athlete weighed pounds. In April, the same athlete weighed
pounds. What is the athlete's percentage of weight loss?
Explanation: The formula to find percentage change is
.
So for our athlete, our new weight is 170 pounds, and the original weight is 195 pounds.
Because the question already tells us that we need to find the percent lost, or percent decrease, we can drop the negative sign in the answer.
If I want yards of fabric, how many inches will I have?
Explanation: 1. Find out how many feet you have: Knowing that there are 3 feet in a yard, you have 3 x 4 yards = 12 feet of fabric. 2. Find out how many inches you have: Knowing that there are 12 inches in a foot, you have 12 x 12 inches=144 inches of fabric.
John recently bought the following school supplies: a calculator for , a pencil bag for
, a mechanical pencil for
, and a set of pens for
.
How much did John spend in total on school supplies?
Explanation: In order to solve this problem, you must add all of the costs of school supplies together. This can be done through the following equation:
Therefore, the total amount that John spent on school supplies is
.
Kevin has won toys from a competition and decides to keep
toys for himself. He would like to give the rest of the toys to four of his close friends.
If each of Kevin's friends receive the same number of toys from Kevin, how many will be remaining?
Explanation: The correct answer is 2 remaining toys. Kevin has 34 toys to start and he keeps 4 for himself. This means that he has 30 toys to give to four friends.
When we divide 30 by 4, we get 7.5. Since each friend cannot get half a toy, each friend can receive 7 toys.
This means that of the 30 toys, there will be 2 toys remaining.
Change to a decimal.
Explanation: To change a percent to a decimal, drop the "%" sign then divide by 100.
Convert to a percentage.
Explanation: The correct answer is 20%. This can be obtained by first converting the fraction to a decimal and then multiplying by 100 to get a percentage.
Determine the answer as an improper fraction:
Explanation: 1. Invert the second fraction:
2. Multiply the two fractions:
3. Reduce the improper fraction:
So the improper fraction can be reduced to
.
What is of
?
Explanation: Before multiplying, it's necessary to convert 0.25% to a decimal, which is 0.0025. Multiply this 0.0025, with 100. The correct answer is 0.25.
Solve the following:
Explanation: The correct answer is and can be found by using reciprocals as shown below:
The first step is to identify that 4 can be written as 4 divided by 1. You can then take the first fraction and multiple it by the reciprocal of the second fraction, which can be found by switching the numerator and denominator. From there, you solve and simplify until you get to the final answer.
Change to a percent.
Explanation: To convert a fraction into a percent, we need to first change the fraction into a decimal.
Now, change the decimal into a percent by multiplying by 100 and adding a percent sign.
Add a percent sign
Karen plays on her school's basketball team. She keeps track of the number of points she scores in each game. For the past 6 games, she scored 23 points, 10 points, 34 points, 9 points, 12 points, and 11 points. What is the range for the number of points she scored over the past 6 games?
Explanation: To find the range, place the numbers in numerical order:
Then, subtract the smallest value from the largest value.
Baseballs can only be bought in packages of . If team needs
balls for the season and always rounds that estimate up, how many packages do they need?
Explanation: 1. Round 145 to the nearest 10: Since there is a 5 in the ones place, 145 rounds up to 150. 2. Divide the rounded number of baseballs by 10 since they come in packages of 10: 150/10=15 packages
What is as a percent?
Explanation: To change a demical to a percent, multiply the decimal by 100 and then add the percent sign.
Add the percent sign.
What is expressed as a percentage rounded to the nearest hundredth?
Explanation: Percents are numbers expressing parts of :
is the same thing as saying
parts of
or
The simplest way to convert a decimal to a percentage is to move the decimal place over two places to the right. We move the decimal point to after the hundredths place because we are rewriting the decimal as a portion of
. Therefore:
In everyday usage, percents usually are between
and
. However, when a number is greater than
, it's corresponding percentage is going to be greater than
. The next step of this problem is to round the percentage we have to the nearest hundredth. The number in the thousandths place is
, therefore, we're going to round up:
is therefore our final answer.
Jane bought a pencil for , a skirt for
, a coat for
, and a headband for
. How much did Jane pay in total for all the items she bought?
Explanation: Add up all the individual items.

In 2012, a university received 150,249 applicants. In 2013, the same university received 190,201 applicants. By what percent did the total number of applicants increase from 2012 to 2013?
Explanation: To find the percent change, use the following formula:
Our new number of applicants is 190,201, while the original number of applicants is 150,249.
If I want yards of fabric, how many inches will I have?
Explanation: 1. Find out how many feet you have: Knowing that there are 3 feet in a yard, you have 3 x 4 yards = 12 feet of fabric. 2. Find out how many inches you have: Knowing that there are 12 inches in a foot, you have 12 x 12 inches=144 inches of fabric.
Solve for .
Explanation: Add both sides by 9 to isolate the x on one side.
Multiply both sides by 5.
Divide boths ides b 9.
Find the value of in the ratio table above.
Explanation: To find , we can set up the following ratios:
Now, cross-multiply and solve.
Find the sum.
Explanation: To add mixed numbers, you need to first change both of them into improper fractions.
Then, add the two improper fractions like you would any other fraction.
We need both fractions to have the same denominator before we can add them. Since 27 is a multiple of 3, we only need to change 1 fraction.
Now, we can add these fractions.
Finally, change the improper fraction back into a mixed number.
Jimmy started taking his math test at 11:03AM, and he finished at 12:29PM. How many minutes did it take Jimmy to finish the test?
Explanation: First, we need to find how long it took Jimmy to finish the test.
Subtract the hours, then subtract the minutes.
Now, the question asks how many MINUTES it takes Jimmy to finish the test. Convert the hour into minutes.
Solve for .
Explanation: Start by isolating the term with to one side. Add 10 on both sides.
Divide both sides by 7.
If painters can paint
houses in
day, how many painters would it take to paint
houses in
day?
Explanation: We can set up the following proportions using the given information:
Now, cross multiply these two fractions to get the following equation:
Divide both sides by
.
What is of
?
Explanation: Before multiplying, it's necessary to convert 0.25% to a decimal, which is 0.0025. Multiply this 0.0025, with 100. The correct answer is 0.25.