ASVAB Arithmetic Reasoning section

Mr. Richard Tupper is purchasing gifts for his family. He stops to consider what else he has to buy. A quick mental inventory of his shopping bag so far reveals the following: 1 cashmere sweater, valued at $260 3 diamond bracelets, each valued at $365 1 computer game, valued at $78 1 cameo brooch, valued at $130 Later, while having coffee in the Food Court, he suddenly remembers that he has purchased only 2 diamond bracelets, not 3, and that the cashmere sweater was on sale for $245. What is the total value of the gifts Mr. Tupper has purchased so far?

$1,183 Add the corrected value of the sweater ($245) to the value of the two, not three, bracelets ($730), plus the other two items ($78 and $130).

The condition Down's syndrome occurs in about 1 in 1,500 children when the mothers are in their twenties. About what percent of all children born to mothers in their twenties are likely to have Down's syndrome?

0.067 percent The simplest way to solve this problem is to divide 1 by 1,500, which is 0.0006667, and then count off two decimal places to arrive at the percentage, which is 0.06667 percent. Since the question asks about what percentage, the nearest value is 0.067 percent.

After three days, a group of hikers discovers that they have used 2/5 of their supplies. At this rate, how many more days can they go forward before they have to turn around?

0.75 days

To lower a fever of 105 degrees, ice packs are applied for 1 minute and then removed for 5 minutes before being applied again. Each application lowers the fever by half a degree. How long will it take to lower the fever to 99 degrees?

1 hour and 12 minutes The difference between 105 and 99 is 6 degrees. The temperature is lowered by half a degree every six minutes, or 1 degree every 12 minutes. 6 degrees multiplied by 12 minutes per degree is 72 minutes, or 1 hour and 12 minutes.

How much water must be added to 1 liter of a 5 percent saline solution to get a 2 percent saline solution?

1.5 L Use the equation .05(1) = .02(x), where x is the total amount of water in the resulting 2 percent solution. Solving for x, you get 2.5. Subtracting the 1 liter of water already present in the 5 percent solution, you will find that 1.5 liters need to be added.

At a certain school, half the students are female and one-twelfth of the students are from outside the state. What proportion of the students would you expect to be females from outside the state?

1/24 If half the students are female, then you would expect half of the out-of-state students to be female. One half of 1/12 is 1/24 1/12 divided by 2 is 1/24

What is the estimated product when 157 and 817 are rounded to the nearest hundred and multiplied?

16,000 157 is rounded to 200; 817 is rounded to 800. (200)(800) = 160,000.

Of 9,125 patients treated in a certain emergency room in one year, 72% were male. Among the males, 3 out of 5 were under age 25. How many of the emergency room patients were males age 25 or older?

2,628 72% of 9,125 is (0.72)(9125), or 6,570 males. If 3 out of 5 males were under 25, then 2 out of 5 were 25 or older, so (6570) = 2,628 male patients 25 or older.

A dosage of a certain medication is 12 cc per 100 pounds. What is the dosage for a patient who weighs 175 pounds?

21 cc 0.12*175=21

There are 176 men and 24 women serving in a particular battalion. What percentage of the battalion's force is women?

24 Add the number of men and women to get the total number: 200. The number of women, 24, is 12 percent of 200. 176+24=200 0.12*200=24

This is a list of ingredients needed to make 16 brownies. Deluxe Brownies cup butter 5 squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate cups sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla 2 eggs 1 cup flour What is the greatest number of brownies that can be made if the baker has only 1 cup of butter?

24 The recipe for 16 brownies calls for cup butter. An additional cup would make 8 more brownies, for a total of 24 brownies.

In half of migraine sufferers, a certain drug reduces the number of migraines by 50%. What percentage of all migraines can be eliminated by this drug?

25% The drug is 50% effective for 50% of migraine sufferers, so it eliminates (0.50)(0.50), or 0.25 of all migraines.

A clerk can process 26 forms per hour. If 5,600 forms must be processed in an 8-hour day, how many clerks must you hire for that day?

26 forms multiplied by 8 hours is 208 forms per day per clerk. 5,600 divided by 208 is approximately 26.9, which means you have to hire 27 clerks for the day.

A car uses 16 gallons of gas to travel 448 miles. How many miles per gallon does the car get?

28 miles per gallon

A dormitory now houses 30 men and allows 42 square feet of space per man. If five more men are put into this dormitory, how much less space will each man have?

30 men multiplied by 42 square feet of space is 1,260 square feet of space. 1,260 square feet divided by 35 men is 36 square feet, so each man will lose 6 square feet of space.

A floor plan is drawn to scale so that one quarter inch represents 2 feet. If a hall on the plan is 4 inches long, how long will the actual hall be when it is built?

32 feet Explanation: Four inches is equal to 16 quarter inches. Each quarter inch is 2 feet, so 16 quarter inches is 32 feet.

A gram of fat contains 9 calories. An 1,800-calorie diet allows no more than 20% calories from fat. How many grams of fat are allowed in that diet?

40 20% of 1,800, or (0.2)(1,800) = 360 calories are allowed from fat. Since there are 9 calories in each gram of fat, divide 360 by 9 to find that 40 grams of fat are allowed. 0.2*1,800=360 360/9=40g

A patient's hospice stay cost as much as his visit to the emergency room. His home nursing cost twice as much as his hospice stay. If his total health care bill was $140,000, how much did his home nursing cost?

40,000 Let E = emergency room cost; H = hospice cost, which is E; N = home nursing cost, which is 2H, or 2()E. The total bill is E + H + N, which is E + E + E, = 140,000. Add the left side of the equation to get E = 140,000. To solve for E, multiply both sides of the equation by . E = 140,000(), or 80,000. H = E, or 20,000, and N = 2H, or 40,000.

If no treatment has been given within 3 hours after injury to a certain organ, the organ's function starts decreasing by 20% each hour. If no treatment has been given within 6 hours after injury, about how much function will remain?

50% At the end of three hours, the organ still has 100% function. After four hours, it has 80% of that, or 0.8. After five hours, it has 80% of the 80% it had at the end of four hours: (0.8)(0.8) = 64%. After six hours, it has 80% of the 64% it still had after five hours: (0.8)(0.64) = 0.512, or about 50%.

A woman drives west at 45 miles per hour. After half an hour, a man starts to follow her. How fast must he drive to catch up to her three hours after he starts?

52.5 miles per hour The woman will have traveled 3.5 hours at 45 miles per hour for a distance of 157.5 miles. To reach her in 3 hours, the man must travel at 157.5 miles per 3 hours, or 52.5 mph.

During the last week of training on an obstacle course, a recruit achieves the following times in seconds: 66, 57, 54, 54, 64, 59, and 59. The recruit's three best times this week are averaged for his final score on the course. What is his final score?

55 seconds The recruit's three best times are 54, 54, and 57. To find the average, add the 3 numbers and divide the sum by 3.

A train must travel 3,450 miles in six days. How many miles must it travel each day?

575 miles 3,450 miles divided by 6 days is 575 miles.

On the cardiac ward, there are 7 nursing assistants. Basil has 8 patients; Hobbes has 5 patients; McGuire has 9 patients; Mattie has 10 patients; Garcia has 10 patients; James has 14 patients; and Lydia has 7 patients. What is the average number of patients per nursing assistant?

9 First, add the number of patients to find the total: 63. Then divide the number of patients by the number of nursing assistants: 63 divided by 7 is 9.

All of the rooms in a building are rectangular, with 8-foot ceilings. One room is 9 feet wide by 11 feet long. What is the combined area of the four walls, including doors and windows?

Each 9-foot wall has an area of 9(8) or 72 square feet. There are two such walls, so those two walls combined have an area of 144 square feet. Each 11-foot wall has an area of 11(8) or 88 square feet, and again there are two such walls: 88 (2) = 176. Finally, add 144 and 176 to get 320 square feet.

Jason is six times as old as Kate. In two years, Jason will be twice as old as Kate is then. How old is Jason now?

J = 6K. J + 2 = 2(K + 2), so 6K + 2 = 2K + 4, which means K equals 1/2 . J equals 6K, or 3.

For every dollar Kyra saves, her employer contributes a dime to her savings, with a maximum employer contribution of $10 per month. If Kyra saves $60 in January, $130 in March, and $70 in April, how much will she have in savings at the end of that time?

Kyra saves $60 + $130 + $70 = $260. In January, her employer contributes $6 and in April, $7. In March, her employer contributes only $10, the maximum amount. The total in savings is $260 + $6 + $7 + $10 = $283.