Arithmetic, Ratios and Percent
This topic covers integers, fractions, decimals, ratios, proportions, percent change, exponents, roots, number properties, and quantitative estimation.
How to study for the GRE
Build every answer around the exact task: passage evidence, blank logic, argument structure, equation setup, units, data labels, and section-level timing.
Core concepts
Concept 1
Arithmetic, Ratios and Percent questions test reasoning under the current GRE General Test structure.
Exam cue: Name the question type, then mark the evidence, blank logic, argument role, equation, table label, or writing goal.
Concept 2
The best answer identifies the task, evidence, relationship, equation, quantity, or writing move before comparing choices.
Exam cue: Check scope, contrast words, quantifiers, units, graph labels, variable definitions, and whether the answer fits every condition.
Concept 3
Eliminate choices that add outside assumptions, reverse the relationship, ignore wording, misuse units, or answer a nearby but different task.
Exam cue: Use review time to verify the exact prompt, not just the topic that first looked familiar.
Risk pitfalls and guardrails
Choosing a familiar word, formula, or claim without testing it against the exact context.
Guardrail: Use a 15-second safety pause before finalizing your action.
Treating a GRE reasoning item like a memorization item rather than a task about relationships.
Guardrail: Use a 15-second safety pause before finalizing your action.
Skipping the final reasonableness check for passage support, sentence meaning, or quantitative scale.
Guardrail: Use a 15-second safety pause before finalizing your action.
Memory anchors
Ratio
A ratio compares quantities by division and can be scaled proportionally.
Percent
Percent means per hundred and should be tied to the correct base.
Percent Change
Percent change equals change divided by original value.
Fraction
A fraction represents part-to-whole, ratio, or division depending on context.
Exponent
Exponent rules describe repeated multiplication and powers of products or quotients.
Root
A root reverses a power under the allowed domain.
Integer Property
Integer properties include parity, divisibility, factors, multiples, and remainders.
Proportion
A proportion states equality between two ratios.
Estimation
Estimation checks whether a computed answer is reasonable.
Base Value
The base value is the original quantity used in percent and ratio comparisons.
Checkpoint rule
Do the check-up only after you can summarize each concept in one sentence and identify one dangerous pitfall from memory.
Knowledge Check (after reading)
Short check-up to confirm understanding of this module.
Check-up Questions
What is the greatest common factor of 84 and 126?
What is the least positive integer divisible by both 12 and 18?
Answer all questions to submit.
Next step personalized recommendations
Continue learning
Move forward only after this module is stable.
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