Trigonometry is a broad topic and hence we will cover all the concepts and sample examples in a two part post. In this first part, we would discuss concepts, formulae and some sample examples. In the second part of the post, we are following up with some more examples. Trigonometry is the branch of mathematics that deals with the study of relationships between sides and angles of a triangle. It is derived from Greek word, Tri meaning three and Gon means Angle and Metron means Measure. The ratio of the lengths of two sides of a right angled triangle is called a trigonometric ratio.

Read More

Questions on clocks (or even calendars) are not really frequent in CAT these days. They used to be really popular few years ago. Having said that, it is always better to understand some of the basic principles and the types of problems that get asked. They might come in handy in case of other exams like CMAT, MAT, SNAP, etc. Clock problems can be broadly classified in two categories: a)      Problems on angles b)      Problems on incorrect clocks Problems on angles Before we actually start solving problems on angles, we need to get couple of basic facts clear: Sp

Read More

Sequence and Series topic of Quantitative Aptitude is one the most engaging and intriguing concept in CAT. Since childhood, we love solving puzzles based on sequence and series. Sequence and series are closely related concepts and possess immense importance. We all have heard about the famous Fibonacci Sequence, also known as Nature’s code. This sequence can be used to model or describe various phenomena in the field of biology, mathematics, nature, art etc. The sequence is 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13... so on. As we can see, the next no. in the sequence is the addition of previous two numbe

Read More

The questions on Mixtures and Alligations are asked repeatedly in CAT and keeping the past year trends in mind, one or two questions are asked every year. We have seen the concept used in some of the Data Interpretation questions as well, so this cannot be overlooked.  Let us begin with the subject matter on this topic. When we have to find the average of a given set of values, we just add those values and divide by the number of values in consideration.  But what do we do when we have to find the average of 2 given sets of values, each containing different number of elements? We use

Read More

The direction questions are one of the most repeated questions in the CAT Exam. Apart from CAT, direction and distance reasoning questions are also frequently asked in most of the MBA exams and other competitive exams. The test-takers are suggested to attempt these questions effectively as they are scoring and easily-solvable. The direction and distance reasoning questions, as the name implies, includes two types of questions i.e.: Direction Sense Test Distance Related questions Direction Sense Reasoning: The questions based on directions require the candidates to identifyin

Read More

Data Interpretation questions typically have large amount of data given in the form of tables, pie charts, line graphs or some non-conventional format. The questions are calculation heavy and typically test your approximation abilities. A very large number of these questions check your ability to compare or calculate fractions and percentages. If you sit down to actually calculate the answer, you would end up spending more time than required and most of us can't afford to lose precious time during competitive exams like CAT, XAT, IIFT etc.  Here are few ideas that you can use for approxim

Read More

Data Sufficiency questions often involve very simple calculations. This does not mean that the questions are simple. It just means that the chances to make conceptual mistakes and / or silly mistakes are a little higher than usual. You will need to pay attention to detail in such questions. In Data Sufficiency, you need to figure out whether or not the data given in the question / statements is good enough to find out a unique answer. Once again – is the data enough to find out a unique answer?  Please note that in Data Sufficiency: You do not need to find out the answer Yo

Read More

Ratio and Proportions is one of the easiest concepts in CAT. It is just an extension of high school mathematics. Questions from this concept are mostly asked in conjunction with other concepts like similar triangles, mixtures and allegations. Hence fundamentals of this concept are important not just from a stand-alone perspective, but also to answer questions from other concepts 1.  Ratio (Concepts and Properties) Many a times we compare two data values of the same type. One way to do this is to find out the difference (a-b). Other method of comparison could be by division or finding ou

Read More

What are the chances that it will rain today? Which team has odds in favor in today’s cricket match? What is the probability that Sensex will close above 30K today? All these questions pointed towards the chance, the likelihood of happening the uncertain event. And to determine this chance there’s a technique, a special mathematical and statistical subject entirely related to this known as Probability. Probability is nothing else but a chance that some event might occur. More formally, it calculates a numerical value between 0 and 1 that represents the likelihood that an event might occu

Read More

Profit and Loss is the one concept that we have been studying since class 6th or 7th. It is present in our day-to-day simple transactions from buying vegetables to purchasing expensive jewelry. Everything we purchase today includes profit and loss. Our whole economy from big MNC’s to small retail outlets has been running with the same single intention to make profit. Whatever is being traded in the market has same motive to earn profit. Every seller aims to earn some profit over the product he is willing to sell and from the buyers’ perspective he is earning profit in terms of utility

Read More