GR1268 Solutions

GR1268 Solutions
Hello mathematicians!
What follows are my solutions to the questions from the 2015 GRE Mathematics Test Practice Book
(found at https://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/practice_book_math.pdf). The solutions presented here generally
represent the most efficient way I could find to solve each problem, although more efficient solutions may
exist. While full justifications are presented for the tougher problems, during the test youre not expected to
go into quite so much detail; instead, its best to go into the test with plenty of facts, examples, and
counterexamples that you can draw on to eliminate incorrect choices and determine the correct answer.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please contact me through my website,
http://www.solidangl.es. Feedback is always more than welcome. A big thank-you goes to those who looked
over my solutions and made suggestions to improve their elegance, thoroughness, and clarity!
Good luck on the test!
- Bill Shillito
Question 1
( )
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
We can solve this by using LHpitals Rule twice (since the first two limits are of indeterminate form ):
(
Alternatively, we could use the Maclaurin series for

(
Either way, we get that the limit is equal to
)
(
)
):
)
)
The correct answer is E.
2015 Bill Shillito
http://www.solidangl.es
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 2
What is the area of an equilateral triangle whose inscribed circle has radius ?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E) (
Lets sketch the situation:
Note that the medians of the equilateral triangle divide it into six congruent
triangles. The
shorter leg of one such triangle is , so the larger leg is , giving each small triangle an area of
. Thus the area of the entire equilateral triangle is
The correct answer is C.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 3
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
. /
(E)
. /
We make the substitution
Using this substitution we solve the rest of the integral, remembering to also change the limits of
integration to be in terms of :
| |)|
| |
( *
The correct answer is D.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 4
Let and be -dimensional subspaces of a -dimensional vector space . Which of the following
CANNOT be the dimension of the subspace
?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
Since is -dimensional, any basis of must contain exactly linearly independent vectors. In the case
that
, i.e. if the two spaces coincide perfectly, then
will also be -dimensional, as they can
be spanned by the same linearly independent basis vectors. The overlap between the two spaces can
also be -, -, or -dimensional, if the bases for and share , , or linearly independent vectors,
respectively. However, if
were -dimensional, then the bases of and would in their union
contain linearly independent vectors, contradicting our assumption that is -dimensional.
The correct answer is A.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 5
Sofia and Tess will each randomly choose one of the
integers from
that neither integer chosen will be the square of the other?
to
. What is the probability
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
We can easily attack this one by brute force. There are
possible outcomes for Sofia and
Tesss choices. From here, the inadmissible outcomes wed like to throw out are as follows:
Sofia picks
Sofia picks
Sofia picks
Sofia picks
Sofia picks
Thus only
, Tess picks
, Tess picks
, Tess picks
, Tess picks
, Tess picks
out of the
possible outcomes are admissible, and the probability is
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 6
Which of the following shows the numbers
, and
in increasing order?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
The quickest way to handle this question is to raise each number to the sixth power:
Since
, and
is increasing for
, we can conclude that
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 7
The figure above shows the graph of the derivative of a function , where is continuous on the
interval , - and differentiable on the interval ( ). Which of the following gives the correct ordering
of the values ( ), ( ), and ( )?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
(
(
(
(
(
)
)
)
)
)
(
(
(
(
(
)
)
)
)
)
(
(
(
(
(
)
)
)
)
).
We start off by noticing the relationship between

( )
for
( )
for
goes from positive to negative at
Since
has a local maximum at
and .
so
so
so
is increasing on this interval.

is decreasing on this interval.
has a local maximum at this point.
, we can eliminate choices A, B, and D.
To determine the relative size of ( ) and ( ), we notice that the area under the curve for
is significantly larger in magnitude than the area above the curve for
. Thus ( ) cannot dip
(
),
(
)
(
)
(
).
below
and we have
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 8
Which of the following is NOT a group?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
The integers under addition

The nonzero integers under multiplication
The nonzero real numbers under multiplication
The complex numbers under addition
The nonzero complex numbers under multiplication
A, C, D, and E are well-known examples of groups, as they fit the group axioms of closure, associativity,
identity, and inverses.
B does not satisfy all of the group axioms; even though the closure, associativity, and identity axioms are
all satisfied, the multiplicative inverse of a nonzero integer need not be an integer. (For example,
,
but
.)
The correct answer is B.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 9
Let be a continuous real-valued function defined on
with the following properties.
( )
(
( )
)
if
Which of the following could be part of the graph of ?

(A)
(B)
(D)
(E)
Since
( )
Since
,
)
(C)
must have a horizontal tangent line at

,
must be concave up at
. Eliminate choice C.
. Eliminate choice E.
Since ( )
if
, must be concave down on this entire interval. Choice A fits this
description; choice B is concave up on the majority of the interval, and choice E switches to concave up
shortly before
, appearing to have a point of inflection at roughly
.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 10
(
In the
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
-plane, the set of points whose coordinates satisfy the equation above is
a line
a circle
an ellipse
a parabola
one branch of a hyperbola
Notice that the expression on both sides of the equation is the distance formula; the left hand side is the
) and (
), and the right hand side is the distance between (
) and ( ).
distance between (
) that are equidistant from
Therefore we can rephrase what were looking for as the set of all points (
(
) and ( ). This set of points must be a line (specifically, the perpendicular bisector of the
segment connecting the two given points).
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 11
The region bounded by the curves
and
in the first quadrant of the
about the -axis. The volume of the resulting solid of revolution is
-plane is rotated
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
We can easily verify either algebraically or geometrically that the two curves intersect at the points
( ) and ( ).
Since we will be rotating around the -axis, we need both curves in terms of :
If
If
, then
, then
.
. (This is because
.)
We can then use the washer method to calculate the volume:

.
(
(
*|
*
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 12
For which integers
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
such that
is there only one group of order
(up to isomorphism)?
For no such integer

For , , , and
only
For , , , , and
only
For , , , and
only
For all such integers
To begin with, it is a well-known fact (and can be proven using Lagranges theorem) that every group of
prime order is cyclic. Therefore, any groups of order , , , and
are isomorphic to the additive
groups , , , and
, respectively. Eliminate choices A and D.
However, there are two non-isomorphic Abelian groups of order :
is not.) Eliminate choices C and E.
and
. (While
is cyclic,
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 13
If is a continuously differentiable real-valued function defined on the open interval (
( )
and ( )
for all , what is the greatest possible value of ( )?
) such that
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
Since
is continuous on ,
particular, there must be

( )
- and differentiable on (
(
, which means ( )
) such that
( )
), it must satisfy the Mean Value Theorem. In

( )
( )
( )
. Since
( )
, we have
We can also consider the limiting case, which is the function for which ( )
, so ( ) would be of
the form
. Since ( )
, this would mean ( )
, and so ( )
.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 14
Suppose is a continuous real-valued function such that
( )
for each
, where
is a constant. What is the value of ?

(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
If we let
, then the integral on the right hand side vanishes:
Since
, a little basic algebra shows that
( )
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 15
Let , , and be nonempty sets, and let
and
be functions such that the function
is one-to-one (injective). Which of the following must be true?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
is one-to-one.
is onto.
is one-to-one.
is onto.
is onto.
We can eliminate E quickly just because a function is one-to-one does not mean it is onto. A great
counterexample is the function
.
Suppose that is not one-to-one; this means that there exist
for which
, but ( )
( ), then ( ( ))
Now, if ( )
( ( )). However, this would contradict the fact that
one-to-one; therefore, must be one-to-one.
( ).
is
A useful counterexample that would also let us eliminate choices B, C, and D are the functions
,
( )
)( ) ( ) is one-to-one, is not onto,
and
, ( )
. Note that while (
and is neither one-to-one nor onto.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 16
Suppose , , and are statements such that is true if exactly one of
which of the following statements must be true?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
and
is true. If
is false,
If is true, then is false.

If is false, then is false.
If is false, then is true.
Both and are true.
Both and are false.
The possibilities for
and
are as follows:
1. Both and are true.

2.
is true and is false.
3.
is false and is true.
4. Both and are false.
The problem states that if case 2 or case 3 is true, then
cases 2 or 3 cannot be true. Eliminate choices A and C.
is true; by contrapositive, if
is false, then
Now we are left with case 1 or case 4. Although one of these must be true, we dont have any way of
knowing which one; all we know is that and must have the same truth value, whatever truth value
that is. If one is true, so is the other; if one is false, the other must be as well.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 17
Which of the following equations has the greatest number of real solutions?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
We can rearrange choice A to give
. Since
is strictly increasing and onto, it will equal
exactly once (when
). Therefore choice A has one solution. (We could also sketch choice A
fairly easily and arrive at the same result.)
Rearranging choice B gives the equation
. The discriminant
of this
( )(
)
quadratic is
, so the quadratic has two real zeros. Therefore choice B has two
solutions.
Choice C has one solution, since the two linear expressions have different slopes.
A quick sketch of each side of choice D shows that
when
, after which point the slope of
no solution.
is always strictly greater than ; in particular,

increases without bound. Therefore choice D has
To make choice E easier to visualize, we invert both sides to yield the equation
quick sketch shows that
while
is in the range ,
when
, but everywhere else,
-. Therefore choice E has one solution.
Graph for choice D
. Again, a
is strictly greater than ,
Graph for choice E
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 18
Let
be the function defined by ( )
for all
such that
. Then
( )
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
We can differentiate the power series term-by term:
( )
This is exactly the Maclaurin series for

with first term
, which we can verify as the sum of an infinite geometric series
and common ratio .
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 19
( )
If is a complex variable and denotes the complex conjugate of , what is
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E) The limit does not exist.
We can represent and in polar form as
expressions to rewrite and simplify the limit:
( )
and
, respectively. We can then use these
(
(
)
)
Since this limit depends on the angle at which we approach the origin, it is not unique; for example,
approaching along the -axis gives us
. /
( )
, while approaching along the line
gives us
. Thus we can conclude that the limit does not exist.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 20
be the function defined by ( )
Let
for all real . Then
( ( ))
( )
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
First, we note that ( )
and ( )
. This means our limit has the indeterminate form , so
we can use LHpitals Rule:

( ( ))
( )
( ( )) ( )
( ( )) ( )
Since
( )
, we can plug in
and calculate:
( ( )) ( )
( ( )) ( )
( ) ( )
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 21
What is the value of
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
We can start by splitting our integral into a sum of two integrals:
The first integral can be evaluated directly:

|
For the second integral, note that
is an even function,
even function. Therefore, the product

directly:
is an odd function, and
is an
is an odd function. We can also check this
.
The integral of an odd function evaluated over an interval symmetric about
)
/
must be zero, so the
second integral vanishes. Thus the whole integral is .

2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 22
What is the volume of the solid in
?
-space bounded by the surfaces
, and
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
Let
be the region bound by the curves

and
. It can easily be verified algebraically or
geometrically that the two curves intersect at
and
.
The volume can thus be represented as a double integral,
which can then be further split into two integrals:
(
The -coordinate of the centroid of

the formula
, where
can be found using
is the area of ; therefore, the first integral is equal to
. We
integrate to find :
)
((
(
.
Since
is symmetric across the line
The second integral is
)
/|
, we have
times the area of , which is
Adding the two integrals together, we get
, and the first integral equals
.
.
The answer is C.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 23
) be the ring of integers modulo , and let be the subset of
Let (
*
+. Which of the following statements is FALSE?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
(
(
(
(
(
) is closed under addition modulo .

) is closed under multiplication modulo .
) has an identity under addition modulo .
) has no identity under multiplication modulo
) is commutative under addition modulo .
represented by
A is true because adding two even integers yields an even integer, which will be part of modulo
B is true because multiplying two even integers yields an even integer, which will be part of modulo
C is true because the additive identity is , which is part of .
E is true because modular addition of integers is commutative.
D is false because
functions as an a multiplicative identity:
(
(
(
(
(
)
)
)
)
)
) is isomorphic to the ring (

(Its also worth noting that the ring (
is also a field, we can eliminate choices A, B, C, and E instantly.)
) of integers modulo ; as
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 24
Consider the system of linear equations
with solutions of the form (

are FALSE?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
), where , , , and are real. Which of the following statements
The system is consistent.

The system has infinitely many solutions.
The sum of any two solutions is a solution.
(
) is a solution.
Every solution is a scalar multiple of (
To begin with, we can quickly check that (
(
(
)
)
(
(
)
)
( )
( )
( )
( )
).
) is a solution.
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
Eliminate choice D.
Since we have found a solution to the system, the system is consistent. Eliminate choice A.
Since the system is homogeneous (i.e. of the form ), any scalar multiple of one solution is also a
solution. Therefore there are infinitely many solutions. Eliminate choice B.
In addition, the sum of any two solutions is a solution. Eliminate choice C.
) is a solution, this does not mean that ALL solutions
However, while every scalar multiple of (
). (If you went to the trouble to row-reduce the matrix corresponding
are scalar multiples of (
with the system of equations, you would find that its rank is .)
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 25
The graph of the derivative is shown above, where is a real-valued function. Which of the following
open intervals contains a value for which the point ( ( ))is an inflection point of ?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
(
(
(
(
(
)
)
)
)
)
An inflection point of is where

changes sign, or alternatively, where has a local maximum or
minimum. We can see from the graph that does indeed have a local minimum in the open interval
(
); as goes from decreasing to increasing,
goes from concave down to concave up.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 26
(
(
)
)
If and are integers that satisfy the congruences above, then

of the following?
is congruent modulo
to which
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
First we multiply both sides of the first congruence by :
(
(
(
)
)
)
Then we multiply both sides of the second congruence by :

(
(
(
)
)
)
Now we can solve:
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 27
(
)
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
We can represent (
in polar form as
Then we can use this to find the
th
power:
(
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 28
Let be a one-to-one (injective), positive-valued function defined on . Assume that is differentiable
(
) is tangent to the graph of at
at
and that in the -plane the line
. Let
be the function defined by ( ) for
. Which of the following is FALSE?
(A)
( )
(B) (
(C) (
)( )
)( )
(D) (
)( )
(E) (
)( )
First of all,
( ) is the slope of the tangent line at
Since the tangent line tells us that ( )

(
)( )
( )
, which we can see is . Eliminate choice A.
, we also know that
( )
. Therefore, we find that
. Eliminate choice B.
We can use the Product Rule and the fact that

(
)( )
( )
to calculate (
( ) ( )
) ( ):
( ) ( )
Eliminate choice C.
We can calculate (
)( ) directly:
(
)( )
( )
Eliminate choice E.
We can use the Chain Rule to calculate (
(
) ( ):
)( )
( ( ))
( )
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 29
A tree is a connected graph with no cycles. How many nonisomorphic trees with
vertices exist?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
Although we can always just draw with trial and error, one systematic way to tackle this is to start from
the ground up, starting with one vertex, and gradually adding on a leaves that consist of one vertex
attached to the graph by a single edge. (Every tree with edges has
edges, and every connected
graph with nodes and
edges is a tree.)
There is only
tree with
vertex the singleton graph
Since there is only one place to attach the next leaf, there is only tree with
.
vertices the path graph
Since both vertices of are identical, there is only one way we can attach the next leaf, so there is still
only tree with vertices the path graph .
Adding a fourth vertex, we now have two choices for where we can attach the next leaf we can attach
it to one of the edges, giving us the path graph , or we can attach it to the central vertex, giving us the
star graph .
To add a fifth vertex, we can start with either or . If we start with , we can either attach the next
leaf to the end, giving us the path graph , or we can attach it to one of the central vertices, giving us a
fork graph. If we start with , we can either attach the next leaf to one of the outer vertices, giving
us the same fork graph just mentioned, or we can attach it to the central vertex, giving us the star
graph . Thus there are three possible nonisomorphic graphs with vertices.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 30
For what positive value of does the equation
have exactly one real solution for ?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
We can start off with a rough sketch of
and
, both of which are
increasing for
(since we are assuming
as well).
Looking at our sketch, we can see that for our
equation to have exactly one real solution, not
only must the curves intersect, but they must be
tangent at that point that is, their derivatives
must also be equal.
Thus we have a system of equations and two unknowns.

There are plenty of ways to solve this system. Heres a particularly simple way:
1. Solve for in both equations:
2. Set expressions equal to each other and solve for :
3. Substitute back into one of the expressions for :

(
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 31
Of the numbers , , and , which are eigenvalues of the matrix (
+?
(A) None
(B) and only
(C) and only
(D) and only
(E) , , and
Calling our matrix , need first to compute the matrix
for each of
, and
Since each of
and
are singular (as they have repeated rows), we can conclude that
must be eigenvalues of . Eliminate choices A, B, and D.
and
We can then apply some elementary row operations to

to see if it is singular as well, first
permuting the rows, then subtracting the first row from the second:
(
From here we can see that if we were to row-reduce further, the last row would not disappear, so
matrix has rank and is therefore nonsingular. Thus cannot be an eigenvalue of .
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 32
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
We start off by applying the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, and then simplify and factor what we
can from there:
(
At this point, we would like to factor out the smaller power of . We do this by rewriting
, applying laws of exponents, and factoring further:
(
as
)
)
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 33
What is the
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
th
(
(
(
(
(
derivative of
)
)
)
)
)
To start off, lets write our function as ( )
to make differentiation a bit easier.
Now we start calculating derivatives using the Product Rule and simplifying until we know the pattern:
( )
(
(
( )
)
(
At this point, we see that the pattern seems to be:

( )
Now we just let
( )
) (
( )
) (
))
:
(
(
(
))
)
)
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 34
Which of the following statements about the real matrix shown above is FALSE?
(A) is invertible.
(B) If
and , then
(C) The last row of
is (
(D) can be transformed into the
operations.
( )
(E)
.
).
identity matrix by a sequence of elementary row
To begin with, choice A and D are equivalent to each other, so if one is false, the other must be.
Therefore neither can be correct; eliminate them both.
Since is upper triangular, its determinant is the product of its diagonal entries, which is
Eliminate choice E.
The fact that is upper triangular also makes it easy to determine the last row of :
is guaranteed
to be upper triangular as well, and the entries along the main diagonal will be the squares of the entries
).
of . Therefore the last row must be (
If
, then
. So lets look at
(
Note that
to (
has a column of all zeros, making it singular; therefore there must be a nonzero solution
. In fact, any vector of the form (
) for some
will fulfill this requirement.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 35
In
-space, what are the coordinates of the point on the plane
origin?
(A) (
that is closest to the
(B) .
(C) .
(D) .
(E) .
Let be the shortest line segment that connects the given plane to the origin. Then must be normal
). So, the point we are looking for
to that plane, and therefore must be a multiple of the vector (
) for some
must be of the form (
. At this point, answer choices A, C, D, and E can be
eliminated outright as none of them are of this form, but lets go ahead and show that the point is
.
/ anyway.
We plug our point (
) into the equation and solve for :

(
Thus our point is .
( )
/.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 36
Suppose is a nonempty subset of . Which of the following is necessarily true?
(A) For each
, there exists a continuous function mapping , - into with ( )
and
( )
.
(B) For each
, there exists an open subset of such that
and
.
+ is an open subset of .
(C) *
+ is a closed subset of
(D) *
.
(E) is the intersection of all closed subsets of that contain .
Choice A says that is path-connected. Taking to be any disconnected set (such as ,
to a counterexample. Eliminate choice A.
-) leads
Choice B says that (the complement of ) is open, meaning that is closed. Taking to be any nonclosed set (such as ( -) leads to a counterexample. Eliminate choice B.
Choice C says that the interior of is an open subset of . This is true; if we find the union of all those
open sets , we will have exactly the interior of , and the arbitrary union of open subsets of (or any
topological space, for that matter) is always open.
Choice D says that the exterior of is closed subset of . Taking to be anything other than itself
(the only clopen subset of other than the empty set) leads to a counterexample. While the exterior of
a set (i.e. the interior of the sets complement) is always open, it need not be closed. Eliminate choice D.
Choice E says that is closed. Again, taking to be any non-closed set leads to a counterexample.
Eliminate choice E.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 37
Let be a finite-dimensional real vector space and let
. Which of the following must be true?
I.
II.
III.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
If
be a linear transformation of
such that
is invertible
is diagonalizable.
is either the identity transformation or the zero transformation.
None
I only
II only
III only
II and III
, then the zero transformation
/ fits the criterion that
. (We call such a
transformation idempotent.) As the zero transformation is not invertible, statement I is false.

Eliminate choice B.
Continuing to look at
, the transformation
/ is also idempotent. However, as
is neither
the identity transformation nor the zero transformation, statement III is false. Eliminate choices D and E.
Now we determine whether is diagonalizable. Suppose that is the dimension of , and that the
column vectors of are denoted
. Since
, this implies that
for all from to
. So, the column space of ,
, is a subset of the eigenspace of eigenvalue . Then, the null space
(
)
of ,
, is the eigenspace of eigenvalue . By the Rank-Nullity theorem,
(
)
. Since the union of any basis of
and any basis of
must be a set of
linearly independent basis eigenvectors of , we can conclude that is diagonalizable.
Alternatively, we could investigate the minimal polynomial of . If
, then
, which can
)
(
) is an annihilating polynomial
be restated as (
. Therefore the polynomial ( )
of , as ( )
. The minimal polynomial of must divide ( ), and therefore can be split into
distinct linear factors; this guarantees that can be diagonalized. Thus statement II is true.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 38
The maximum number of acute angles in a convex
-gon in the Euclidean plane is
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
For any convex polygon, the sum of the exterior angles must be
. If there were at least acute
angles in a polygon, then the corresponding exterior angles would be obtuse and would add up to more
than
. Therefore, the maximum number of acute angles in any convex polygon is .
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 39
Consider the following algorithm, which takes an input integer n>2 and prints one or more integers.
input(n)
set i = 1
while i < n
begin
replace i by i+1
set k = n
while k i
begin
if i = k then print(i)
replace k by k-1
end
end
If the input integer is 88, what integers will be printed?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
Only the integer 2

Only the integer 88
Only the divisors of 88 that are greater than 1
The integers from 2 to 88 in increasing order
The integers from 88 to 2 in decreasing order
When we input 88 into n, the variable i is set to 1. Since 1 < 88, we enter the first while loop.
In this outer loop, first i is incremented to 2, and k is set equal to 88. Since 88 2, we enter the
second while loop.
In this inner loop, we first find that 2 88, so the program does not print anything. Then, k is
decremented to 87. The while k i condition is checked again, and its true, so the process
happens again, with k being repeatedly decremented. The final time the while loop is run, both i and
k are equal to 2, so the first thing the program prints is the number 2. After this, the value of k is set
to 1 and the inner while loop breaks. Eliminate choices B and E.
Now, the while i < n condition is checked again, and its true, so the whole aforementioned
process happens again; each time i is set to a higher value, k starts off at 88 and counts down until it
reaches i, at which point the program prints the value of i. The final time this outer while loop is
run, i is equal to 87; the program increments it to 88, and the inner while loop only runs once,
printing the final value 88. After this, the value of i is no longer less than 88, so the outer while
loop breaks and the program terminates.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 40
Let be the set of all functions
. Consider the two binary operations
pointwise addition and composition of functions, as follows.
(
(
)( )
)( )
and on defined as
( )
( )
( ( ))
Which of the following statements are true?

I.
II.
III.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
is commutative.
(
and satisfy the left distributive law
(
and satisfy the right distributive law
)
)
)
(
(
)
).
).
None
II only
III only
II and III only
I, II, and III
)( )
Statement I is false; for a counterexample, let ( )
and ( )
. Then (
(
)
)( )
, but (
; the two are not identical. Eliminate choice E.
Statement II is false; for a counterexample, let ( )
, ( )
))( ) (
)
) (
, but ((
( (
. Eliminate choices B, D, and E.
, and ( )
))( ) (
. Then
)
( )
Statement III can be shown to be true:

((
)( )
)( ( ))
( ( ))
( ( ))
(
)( ) (
)( )
) (
))( )
((
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 41
Let be the line that is the intersection of planes
) and is perpendicular to is
of the plane that contains (
and
in
. An equation
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
Let vectors
( + and
+ be normals to the planes
and
, respectively. Since lies in , it is perpendicular to ; since also lies in , it is also perpendicular

to . We can explicitly find a vector in the direction of by considering the cross product of and
:
|
+ will be parallel to .
A plane that is perpendicular to will be of the form

), we plug this in:
contain (
( )
( )
Thus any nonzero multiple of the vector
Thus an equation of the desired plane is

sides by , yielding the equation
. Since we want the plane to

( )
. We can simplify this further by dividing both

.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 42
Let
be the set of positive integers and let
(
for all
I.
II.
III.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
be the metric on
)
defined by
. Which of the following statements are true about the metric space (
)?
If
, then * + is an open subset of .
Every subset of
is closed.
Every real-valued function defined on
is continuous.
None
I only
III only
I and II only
I, II, and III
The metric described is known as the discrete metric. A useful property to know about the discrete
metric is that, under this metric, ALL sets are open. To prove this, take any for which
; then,
)
every singleton set * + is open because the set of points for which (
is merely the set * +,
which is of course a subset of itself. Now, since each singleton set is open, and nonempty any set can be
constructed from an arbitrary union of such singleton sets, we can conclude that ALL sets are open.
(Recall that the empty set is always vacuously open.) Thus statement I is true. Eliminate choices A and C.
Since every set is open under the discrete metric, it follows that every set is also closed, as its
complement must be open. Thus statement II is true. Eliminate choice B.
Finally, a function is continuous if the preimage of any open set is open. If the domain is equipped with
the discrete metric, this is of course guaranteed by default, so all functions defined on a discrete metric
space are continuous. Thus statement III is true.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 43
A curve in the
for all
-plane is given parametrically by
. The value of
at the point (
) is
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
First, we find the derivatives of
Then we find
and
with respect to :
Next we find
:
(
By inspection, at the point (
), the value of is , so the value of
is
( )
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 44
( )
If
is a real-valued function defined on the real line and satisfying the initial value problem above, then
( )
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
There are two ways to solve this differential equation. As we have a first-order linear equation of the
form
( )
( ), we could find the integrating factor
( )
After this, we would multiply both sides by
, undo the Product Rule, integrate, and solve for .
Alternatively, after some manipulation this equation happens to be separable, which is a bit simpler:
At this point, we would normally plug in the initial condition; however, we dont actually need it to find
the required limit:
(
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 45
How many positive numbers
satisfy the equation
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
(
The period of
As
, the interval on which were looking for intersections is the interval

) is
. We can approximate this decently as
graphs will be intersecting over the course of about
periods of
, which simplifies to
(
.
. Thus, the
).
(
) will cross the line
During each period, the graph of
twice. This means we should
expect roughly
intersection points between the two graphs. The only answer choice in this ballpark
is .
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 46
A ladder meters in length is leaning against a vertical wall on level ground. As the bottom end of the
ladder is moved away from the wall at a constant rate of meters per second, the top end slides
downward along the wall. How fast, in meters per second, will the top end of the ladder be sliding
downward at the moment the top end is meters above the ground?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
First, make a quick sketch of the
situation as shown to the right.
Let denote the distance from the
bottom of the ladder to the wall, and
let denote the distance from the top
of the ladder to the ground. These two
lengths, along with the length
of
the ladder, form a right triangle.
We also know that
find
; we need to
We can therefore set up the Pythagorean Theorem and differentiate implicitly with respect to time:
Since
, we can use the Pythagorean Theorem again to find that
Finally, we substitute the information we have collected and solve for

( )( )
( )
Thus the top of the ladder is sliding down the wall at a rate of meters per second.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 47
The function
is defined as follows.
( )
Which of the following is true?

(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
is discontinuous at all
is continuous only at
is continuous only at
is continuous at all
is continuous at all
.
and differentiable only at
and nondifferentiable at all
.
.
.
.
To begin with, both the rational and the irrational numbers are
dense in ; that is, between any two real numbers, you can find
infinitely many rational numbers and infinitely many irrational
numbers.
A function is continuous at
if for every
, there exists
|
( )|
a
for which |
implies | ( )
.
At any rational
, is not continuous, since no matter what
we pick, we can find an irrational number between
and
( )|
for which | ( )
. Similarly, at any irrational ,
is not continuous, since no matter what we pick, we can find a
rational number between
and
for which | ( )
( )|
. Eliminate choices D and E.
However, we can show that at
,
| (
For any real
, we need to pick a
can get the job done if we pick

Finally, lets test differentiability at
exist. Let ( )
( )
| | and ( )
is continuous. We note:
( )|
such that when

. Thus
. If
is between and , | ( )
is only continuous at
is differentiable at
, by the Squeeze Theorem,
( )
. We
. Eliminate choice A.
, then
( )
( ). Since
must be
as well. Thus
| |. For all , ( )
( )|
( )
( )
( )
must
and
is differentiable at
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 48
)
Let be the function defined by (
for all real , , and . Which of the following is
) in the direction of the
the best approximation of the directional derivative of at the point (
? (Note: , , and are the standard basis vectors in .)
vector
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
First we need to find the gradient
:
(
Evaluating at the point (
), we find that the gradient is ( +.
Now, the magnitude of ( + is
, so the unit vector in the direction of ( + is
( +.
The directional derivative in the direction of ( + is therefore ( +

Since
is between
and ,
( +
is between and . The only choice in this range is
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 49
What is the largest order of an element in the group of permutations of objects?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
If is an element of a group , the order of
where is the identity element of .
We can classify the elements of
in
is the smallest positive integer
, the permutation group of
such that
objects, according to their cycle types:
( ), i.e. the trivial permutation

( )
(
)
(
)
(
)
( )( )
( )(
)
The order of a particular cycle type is the least common multiple of the individual cycle lengths. For
), whose order is
( )
the largest order is for the cycle type ( )(
.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 50
Let be a ring and let
?
I.
II.
III.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
and
be (two-sided) ideals of . Which of the following must also be ideals of
*
*
+
+
II only
III only
I and II only
I and III only
I, II, and III
Lets start with statement I.
First, consider
and
as elements of
.
) (
).
If we add them together, we get (
) (
), we see that it is also an element of
Rewriting this sum as (
Second, consider
and
.
(
) is an element of
Then we see that
.
(
) is an element of
Similarly,
.
Thus statement I is true. Eliminate choices A and B.
Now lets look at statement II.
), consisting of
Consider the ring , - of polynomials in and , and the ideal (
(
)
( ). Suppose and both equal (
). Then
polynomials of the form
( )
(
))(
(
)
(
)).
is the set of all polynomials of the form (
Now, consider the elements
and ; they are both elements of
. However, their sum
,
-;
is irreducible over
therefore it certainly cannot be factored into two
polynomials that are elements of
.
Since
is not closed under addition, statement II is false. Eliminate choices C and E.
Were technically done, but lets look at statement III anyway.
Since is an ideal, for

Since is an ideal, for
Therefore
, , and
Thus statement III is true.
and
and
are in
, we have that
, , and are in .
, we have that
, , and are in .
by the definition of intersection.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 51
Which of the following is an orthonormal basis for the column space of the real matrix
(
+?
(A) {( + ( +}
(B) {( + ( + ( +}
(C) {( + ( ,}
(D) {(
+ (
+}
(E)
( ,
{(
An orthonormal basis is a basis of unit vectors that are pairwise orthogonal.

Choice D can be eliminated; the vectors are not unit vectors.
Choice C can be eliminated; the vectors are not pairwise orthogonal; their dot product is
We can do some elementary row operations on our matrix (which well call
and subtracting twice row from row , then adding row to row .
(
, not .
), first adding row
to row
From this, we can see that columns and are the only pivot columns, so the rank of the matrix is .
Therefore an orthonormal basis must have exactly vectors. Eliminate choice B.
Choice A can now be eliminated; if {( + ( +} were a basis for the column space of
( +
could be represented as
the first and third columns of
( +
, any element
( ). However, there are plenty of linear combinations of
that do not have
as the final entry.
Were technically done, but lets show that choice E works. First, note that any vector of the form
(
( ) is in the column space of
. This means we now have (
+ and ( + as
two linearly independent, orthogonal vectors that span the column space of . Choice E rescales these
two vectors so that they are unit vectors, making them an orthonormal basis for the column space of .
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 52
A universitys mathematics department has
professors and will offer
different courses next
semester. Each professor will be assigned to teach exactly of the courses, and each course will have
exactly one professor assigned to teach it. If any professor can be assigned to teach any course, how
many different complete assignments of the
professors to the
courses are possible?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
We can start off by assigning the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J to the
Then any assignment of the professors to the
of the word AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJ.
professors.
classes can be viewed as a distinguishable permutation
The number of distinguishable permutations of this word is the multinomial coefficient:

( )
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 53
Let and be functions of a real variable such that ( )
times continuously differentiable, what is the greatest integer

continuously differentiable?
( )(
for which
for all . If
must be
is three
times
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
A useful tool to have for this kind of problem, which involves differentiating with respect to an integral
containing in both the limits of integration and the integrand, is Leibnizs formula for differentiation
under the integral sign, also known as Feynmans trick:
( )
( )
( )
( )) ( )
( )
( ):
First, lets find

( )
( )(
( )(
Now, we find
( )) ( )
)( )
)
( )(
)( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( ) (
))
( )
( ) and
( ):
Each step of the way, we assume continuous differentiability as necessary to make sure our answer
( ) again, we must take the derivative of
( ),
makes sense. If we try to take the derivative of
but the problem states that is only guaranteed to be three times continuously differentiable;
therefore we cannot guarantee that ( ) is continuously differentiable, and we must stop here.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 54
If a real number is chosen at random in the interval ,
the interval , -, what is the probability that
?
- and a real number
is chosen at random in
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
We can start by sketching the region ,
the inequality
.
- and
The overlap of these two regions is a trapezoid whose

area is:
The area of the rectangle ,
Therefore the probability that

(
- is
in this rectangle is
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 55
If
and are positive numbers, what is the value of

(A)
(B)
(C)
(D) (
)(
(E)
We can start by manipulating the integrand, separating it into a difference of two simpler integrals:
)(
)
(
)(
For the first integral, we can make the substitution

rearranged as
. This means
, which can be
. We also need to take care to change the limits of integration.
/|
( )
( *
A similar process shows that the second integral will evaluate to

Thus the difference of the two integrals comes out to .
))|
.
.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 56
Which of the following statements are true?
I.
II.
III.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
There exists a constant

None
I only
III only
I and III only
I, II, and III
.
for all
for all integers
|
| | for all real .
such that
such that
such that |
First lets look at statement I.
If
If we differentiate
for all
, then will be larger than
. Choosing any
will do the job. (Note:
With the right system of equations, you can show that the true minimum is
.)
Thus statement I is true. Eliminate choices A and C.
, then
. At
, we have
, we get
. If we can make sure that
The sum
If
)(
, then dividing by
be true for all integers
, because
, we get
. This inequality cannot
is unbounded and will exceed
Therefore, it is impossible to have a such that

eventually outgrow the latter. (We usually say that
Thus statement II is false. Eliminate choice E.
when
; the former function will always

( ).)
Finally lets look at statement III.
We can consider only nonnegative values of , since both functions are even. Thus we must
show that
. At
, both functions equal .
If we differentiate both functions, we get
and
. Both are also at
, so their
tangent lines are horizontal.
If we differentiate again, we get
and
. If we can ensure that the concavity of
exceeds that of
, then
will never be able to catch up. Based on the Maclaurin
series of
, choosing any
will do the job.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 57
be a real number in the open interval .
For each positive integer , let
/. Which of the following
statements must be true?

I.
II.
III.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
If is a continuous real-valued function defined on ( ), then * ( )+|

sequence.
If is a uniformly continuous real-valued function defined on ( ), then
exists.
I only
I and II only
I and III only
II and III only
I, II, and III
is a Cauchy
(
First lets look at statement I.
Let
Since
, by the Squeeze Theorem,
Thus statement I is true. Eliminate choice D.
and
for each positive integer , and note that
.
as well.
Consider the function ( )
. /. Note that ( ) is continuous on (
infinitely often between

and as
.
Since we can choose such that ( ) oscillates between
and , * (
Cauchy sequence its not even a convergent sequence at all.
Thus statement II is false. Eliminate choices B and E.
) and oscillates
)+
is not a
Finally lets look at statement III.
Since is a convergent sequence (as shown for statement I), it is also a Cauchy sequence. This
means that for any
, there exists a positive integer such that for all
, we have
|
|
.
|
Since is uniformly continuous, for any
, there exists a
such that |
( )|
implies | ( )
for all values of
and . Thus we can choose an such that
( )|
for all
, we have | ( )
, and therefore ( ) is a Cauchy sequence.
Since is a real-valued function, and is complete, the fact that ( ) is Cauchy also implies
( ) exists.
that it is convergent, and therefore
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 58
A circular helix in
-space has the following parametric equations, where
( )
( )
( )
Let ( ) be the arc length of the helix from the point ( ) ( ( ) ( ) ( )) to the point (
and let ( ) be the distance between ( ) and the origin. If ( )
, then ( )
),
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
First we find a formula for ( ):

( )
( )
( )
( )
If ( )
, then
Now we need a formula for ( ):

( )
( )
( )
( )
Since
, we find that ( )
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 59
Let be a real
matrix. Which of the following conditions does NOT imply that
(A)
is invertible.
(B) There exists a positive integer such that
.
( )
)
(C) There exists a positive integer such that (
, where is the
(D) The set of all vectors of the form , where
, is .
(E) There exist linearly independent vectors
such that
is invertible?
identity matrix.
for each .
The matrix
can be written as
; since
is invertible, its determinant is nonzero. But then,
( )
( )
( ). Since , being
( ) must also be
, has a determinant of
,
nonzero. Thus if
is invertible, so is . Eliminate choice A.
Next, since
( )
Eliminate choice B.
) , if
, then (
and therefore
)
)
Now, suppose (
. If is an eigenvalue of
, then (
implies that the only eigenvalue of

is . (Such a matrix is called nilpotent.)
( )
for all ; this
A useful property of eigenvalues to know at this point is that if a constant multiple of the identity matrix
is added to a matrix , then the eigenvalues will have added to them as well. (This is because if
)
) .) So, if we add
, then (
(
to
, we find
(
)
(
)
that only eigenvalue of
is
. Thus implies that
is invertible, and as we just
saw, this means is invertible as well. Eliminate choice C.
Next, if the column space of
choice D.
is all of
For choice E, consider the matrix
, then the rank of
is , and thus
+ and the vectors
These three vectors are linearly independent, and
is invertible. Eliminate
( +
( +
for each of them, but
( +.
is not invertible.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 60
A real-valued function
defined on
has the following property.
For every positive number , there exists a positive number

| ( )
( )|
|
whenever |
.
such that
This property is equivalent to which of the following statements about ?

(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
is continuous at
is discontinuous at
is unbounded.
| ( )|
| |
.
.
(E) | ( )|
Intuitively, the given property (which well call ) says that as gets further from , ( ) should get and
remain further from ( ). We can eliminate a number of choices with counterexamples.
Choice A can be eliminated; the function ( )

( )|
No matter what, | ( )
.
Choice B can also be eliminated; the function ( )

does not satisfy . No matter what, | ( )
is continuous at
( )|
but does not satisfy .

is discontinuous at
but
Choice E can also be eliminated; consider the function ( )
( )|
does not satisfy . No matter what, | ( )
.
Although any function that satisfies must be unbounded, the converse is not true. For a
counterexample, consider the function ( )
unbounded, but no matter how far away from
( )|
which | ( )
. Although | |
, ( )
. It is true that ( ) is
you get, there will always be points for
Although were technically done, lets prove that choice D is correct anyway.
| ( )|
To prove that implies
, we need to prove that for any
there exists
| |
( )|
a
for which | |
implies | ( )|
. By the Triangle Inequality, | ( )
| ( )| | ( )|, so | ( )| | ( )
( )| | ( )|. If we want | ( )|
, we need
| ( )
( )| | ( )|
( )|
| ( )|. According to , there is some
, so | ( )
| ( )|. Again, by the Triangle Inequality, if
|
| | |
that will give us
,
| ( )|,
then| |
. So if we choose
, where is chosen such that
then | ( )|
.
| ( )|
To prove that
implies , we can use a similar proof as above, using the
| |
same results of the Triangle Inequality. This time, if we choose
, where is chosen
| ( )|, then we will have | ( )
( )|
such that
.
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 61
A tank initially contains a salt solution of grams of salt dissolved in
liters of water. A salt solution
containing
grams of salt per liter of water is sprayed into the tank at a rate of liters per minute.
The sprayed solution is continually mixed with the salt solution in the tank, and the mixture flows out of
the tank at a rate of liters per minute. If the mixing is instantaneous, how many grams of salt are in
the tank after
minutes have elapsed?
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
Let
denote the current number of grams of salt in the tank. Since the concentration of salt at any
given time is
grams per liter, salt is leaving the tank at a rate of .
At the same time, salt is entering the tank at a rate of (
grams per minute.
grams per minute.
The rate of change of the amount of salt in the tank is equal to the rate at which salt enters minus the
rate at which salt leaves. So, the differential equation that describes the situation is:
This is a first-order linear differential question, so there are a number of ways to solve it separation of
variables, integrating factors, etc. Well use separation of variables:
(
|
|
Substituting the initial condition ( )
At
, we find that
|
|
( )
, we get
, so
and our equation is:
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 62
) in the unit square ,
Let be the subset of
consisting of all points (
or both, are irrational. With respect to the standard topology on , is
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
- for which
or ,
closed
open
connected
totally disconnected
compact
If is closed, then for any point ( )

, we can find an open ball around this point that contains only
points in . However, since the rationals are dense in , this is not true; any open ball around a point in
will contain points for which both coordinates are rational. Eliminate choice B.
If is closed, then its complement
is open. This is not true; if we choose the point .
/ in
since the irrationals are dense in , any open ball around this point will contain points not in
points in with at least one irrational coordinate. Eliminate choice A.
, then
, i.e.
Choice E can now be eliminated. Recall that according to the Heine-Borel theorem, a subset of
is
compact if and only if it is closed and bounded. Since , although bounded, is not closed, it cannot be
compact.
If is totally disconnected, it has no non-trivial connected subsets. However, there are plenty of
connected subsets, such as the segment connecting .
/ to .
/. Eliminate choice D.
We can actually show a stronger condition than being connected: it is in fact path-connected. Keep in
mind that contains (an uncountable number of) horizontal and vertical copies of , -. Therefore we
can move freely along one of these segments as long as one coordinate remains irrational.
Suppose we want a path from (
) to (
).
If is rational, we move horizontally until we are at a point with irrational coordinates; if is

rational, we instead move vertically.
Next, if is irrational, we can move horizontally to line up with , then move vertically to line
up with . If is rational, then we can instead move vertically to line up with , then move
horizontally to line up with . Either way, we have arrived at our destination, moving entirely
within .
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 63
For any nonempty sets
and
of real numbers, let
be the set defined by
*
If
and
are nonempty bounded sets of real number and if

( )
( )
( ) ( )
*
( )
( )
*
( )
( )
*
( )
( )
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
We will compare the values of
( ) ( )+
( ) ( )+
( )
( )
( )
( )+
( )
( )
( ),
( ),
( )
( )
( ), then
( ), and
( )
( ).
Lets compare these products for a few cases to whittle down the answer choices.
If
and both have only positive elements, then the largest of the four products is
( )
( ). Eliminate choice B.
If and both have only negative elements, then the largest of the four products is
( ) ( ). Eliminate choices A and D.
All that remains is to attempt to find a case in which

and ( ) ( ).
( )
( ) is larger than both
( )
( )
If has only positive elements and has only negative elements, then
will have only
negative elements; therefore, the supremum of
will be whichever of the four products will
( ).
have the smallest absolute value, which will be ( )
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 64
What is the value of the flux of the vector field , defined on
by (
, through
the surface
oriented with upward-pointing normal vector field? (Note: , , and
are the standard basis vectors in .)

(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
The formula for the outward flux of a vector field through a surface with outward unit normal is as
follows:
( )
) of is itself
Since our surface is a unit half-sphere, the unit normal vector at any point (
. Therefore, the element is
, which at any point on is equal to . Thus

our surface integral comes out to:
This is just the surface area of . Since the radius of our half-sphere is , the surface area is (
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 65
Let be a differentiable function of two real variables, and let
defined by
( )
be the function of a complex variable

)
where and are the real and imaginary parts of , respectively. If

( )
complex plane, then ( )
(A)
(
(B)
(
(C)
(D)
(E) (
If ( )
is an analytic function on the
)
)
)
)
) is analytic, it must satisfy the Cauchy-Riemann equations:
Using the first Cauchy-Riemann equation, we find that

with respect to , we have (
( ).
Next, partially differentiating with respect to , we find that
second Cauchy-Riemann equation, this must equal

must be a real constant. Thus (
). Integrating
( ). By the
, so
( )
and ( )
Now, we can evaluate:

(
(
(
2015 Bill Shillito
GRE1268 Solutions
Question 66
Let
be the ring of integers modulo , and let
Which of the following are generators of
?
I.
II.
III.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
be the group of units of
under multiplication.
None
I only
II only
III only
I, II, and III
Recall that the order of an element of a group is the smallest positive power to which we have to
raise so that we get the identity element. If that power happens to be the order of itself, then is a
generator of . In our case, since
is a field, every nonzero element of
is a unit, and thus the
order of
is . Therefore the order of any generator of
must also be .
(
),
(
Since
of
. Eliminate choices D and E.
), and the order of
in
is . Thus
is not a generator
To test whether is a generator, we note that the order of any element must divide the order of
therefore, we only need to look at elements of the form
is a generator.
)
(
( )
( )
to determine whether
(
(
)
)
Thus the order of in

is , and is a generator of
implied in the process that the order of in
is .)
. Eliminate choices A and C. (Weve also
Special thanks:
p-adic and Ivanjam from http://www.mathematicsgre.com

bhlh and lieven from ##math on freenode IRC
Brian Smith and Matt Haddad
2015 Bill Shillito

GR1268 Solutions

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GR1268 Solutions

Alternatively, we could use the Maclaurin series for

Either way, we get that the limit is equal to

The correct answer is E.

2015 Bill Shillito

Lets sketch the situation:

. Thus the area of the entire equilateral triangle is

The correct answer is C.

2015 Bill Shillito

We make the substitution

2015 Bill Shillito

2015 Bill Shillito

. What is the probability

possible outcomes are admissible, and the probability is

The correct answer is E.

2015 Bill Shillito

, we can conclude that

The correct answer is C.

2015 Bill Shillito

We start off by noticing the relationship between

goes from positive to negative at

has a local maximum at

is increasing on this interval.

, we can eliminate choices A, B, and D.

2015 Bill Shillito

The integers under addition

The correct answer is B.

2015 Bill Shillito

with the following properties.

Which of the following could be part of the graph of ?

must have a horizontal tangent line at

2015 Bill Shillito

2015 Bill Shillito

We can then use the washer method to calculate the volume:

The correct answer is B.

2015 Bill Shillito

is there only one group of order

For no such integer

The correct answer is B.

2015 Bill Shillito

particular, there must be

), it must satisfy the Mean Value Theorem. In

2015 Bill Shillito

is a constant. What is the value of ?

, then the integral on the right hand side vanishes:

, a little basic algebra shows that

The correct answer is B.

2015 Bill Shillito

2015 Bill Shillito

If is true, then is false.

The possibilities for

1. Both and are true.

2015 Bill Shillito

is always strictly greater than ; in particular,

Graph for choice D

is strictly greater than ,

Graph for choice E

The correct answer is B.

2015 Bill Shillito

be the function defined by ( )

This is exactly the Maclaurin series for

, which we can verify as the sum of an infinite geometric series

and common ratio .

The correct answer is A.