MATHEMATICS PRACTICE PROBLEMS

1. The diameter of a sphere is equal to the base diameter of a right circular cone. What percentage of that
diameter must the cone’s height be so that the volume of both solids is equal? (4/81)
a) 100% b) 200% c) 300% d) 250%

2. A tank contains 100 gallons of brine made by dissolving 60 pounds of salt in water. Salt water containing
one pound of salt per gallon runs in at the rate of two gallons per minute. A well-stirred mixture runs out of
the tank at the rate of 3 gallons per minute. Find the amount of salt in the tank in ponds at the end of one
hour. (4/81)
a) 73.44 b) 44.73 c) 37.44 d) 12.88

3. A satellite orbits around the earth in an elliptical path with eccentricity of 0.6 and the semi-minor axis of
length 12,000 miles. If the center of the earth is at one of the foci, find the maximum altitude of the
satellite. (4/81)
a) 36,000 mi. b) 12,000 mi c) 18,000 mi d) 24,000 mi

4. A corner lot of land is 35 meters on one street and 25 meters on the other street, the angle between the
two lines of the street being 82o25’. The other two lines of the lot are respectively perpendicular to the lines
of the streets. What is the worth of the lot, in PhP, if land sells at PhP 180 per square meter? (4/81)
a) 136, 730 b) 234, 450 c) 188, 289 d) 56, 127

5. A parabolic trough is 3 meters long, one foot across the top and one foot deep. Find the volume of water
in the through, in liters, if the trough is filled to a depth of 6 inches. (10/81)
a) 90 b) 87 c) 72 d) 66

6. A circular piece of cardboard with 1-meter diameter will be made into a conical hat, 40 cm high by
cutting a sector off and joining the edges to form a cone. Determine the angle, in degrees, subtended by the
sector removed from the piece of cardboard. (10/81)
a) 90 b) 144 c) 120 d) 150

7.Find the maximum weight, in kg, of a right circular cylinder that can be cut from a spherical shot
weighing 12 kilograms (4/82)
a) 4 b) 5 c) 6 d) 7
8. The LRT runs a total distance of 15 km. The cost of operating the train per hour is directly proportional
to the cube of its speed (in km/hr) and is PhP 250 per hr at 50 kph. Other expenses amount to PhP 1,687.5
per hr. Find the most economical speed of the train in kph. (4/83)
a) 70 b) 75 c) 85 d) 90

9. A horizontal right cylindrical tank has a diameter of two meters and is 5 meters long. If the tank is filled
with fuel oil to a depth of 1.5 meters, find the volume of the oil in the tank, in liters. (4/83)
a) 12, 635 b) 9, 254c) 15, 682 d) 6, 997

10. The biggest package that can be sent through a certain messengerial firm should have the sum of its girt
and length not exceeding 150 cm. Find the volume, in cubic cm. of a rectangular box of maximum volume
that can be sent through the firm. (4/83)
a) 27, 350 b) 14, 240 c) 37,150 d) 31, 250

11. A piece of wire, 14 cm long is cut in two, one part being bent in the shape of an equilateral triangle, and
the other in the form of a circle. Find the perimeter of the trainge if the sum of the area of these two figures
is to be maximum. (10/83)
a) 4.527 b) 5.825 c) 8.725 d) 10.725

12. Two towns A and B are situated 13 and 20 miles back from a straight river on the bank of which a
pumping station is to be erected to supply water to both towns. At what point on the bank of the river
should the pumping station be placed so that the least amount of piping maybe required if the measured
point of the river from A to B respectively is 25 miles. (4/84)
a) 9.85 mi b) 7.25 mi c) 10.65 mi d) 12. 25

13. A light is placed on the ground 4 ft from a point on the path leading up to a building. The light is 20 ft
from the building. A man 6 ft tall walks along the path towards the building at the rate of 6 fps. How fast is
his shadow on the building shortening when he is 8 ft from the building. (4/84)
a) 8 fps b) 7 fps c) 6 fps d) 5 fps

14. A pole casts a shadow 15 m long when the angle of elevation of the sun is 61 o. If the pole leans 15o
from the vertical directly towards the sun, what is the length of the pole in m? (4/85)
a) 54. 23 b) 43.32 c) 58.22 d) 69.35

15. A rectangular lot is fenced off along the highway. If the fence on the highway side costs PhP 180/m and
on the other sides cost PhP 120/m, find the area of the largest lot that can be fenced off for a total cost of
PhP 48,000. (4/86)
a) 16,000 sq. mi b) 4,000 sq. mi. c) 8,000 sq. mi d) 12,000 sq. mi

16. Sand is pouring from a spout at the rate of 25 cc/sec. It forms a cone whose height is always 1/3 the
radius of its base. At what rate is the height increasing when the cone is 50 cm high. (4/86)
a) 0.000354 cm/sec b) 0.000156 cm/sec c) .0256 cm/sec d) 0.00118 cm/sec

17. The perimeter of a small rectangular industrial lot is 140 m and its diagonal is 50 m. Find the area of the
lot in sq, meter. (10/88)
a) 2,100 b) 1,700 c) 900 d) 1,200
18. A rat fell on a bucket of a water wheel with a diameter of 600 cm, which traveled an angle of 190 0
before it dropped from the bucket. Calculate the linear distance in centimeter, that the bucket carried the
rat. (4/90)
a) 1005 b) 995 c) 754 d) 1200

19. A horizontal cylindrical tank with hemispherical ends is to be filled with water to a height of 762 mm.
If the inside diameter of the cylinder is 3600 mm, find the volume, in cubic meters, the volume of water
required. (4/90)
a) 2.811 b) 1.281 c) 3.762 d) 4.123

20. Solve for the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle if the lengths of the two legs are 7 m and 16 m
respectively. (6/90)
a) 23.1 b) 17.464 c) 12.287 d) 11.22

21. If one of the edges of a cube measures 12 cm., calculate the surface area, in sq. cm, and the volume, in
cu. cm., of the cube. (6/90)
a) 864 and 1728 b) 1728 and 864 c) 144 and 1728 d) 144 and 144

22. A pyramid with a square base has an altitude of 25 cm. if the edge of the base is 15 cm, calculate for the
volume, in cu cm, of the pyramid. (6/90)
a) 1728 b) 375 c) 1875 d) 755

23. If a right circular cone has a base radius of 35 cm and al altitude of 45 cm, solve for the total surface
area, in sq. cm, and volume, in cu. cm, of the cone. (6/90)
a) 57,727 & 10,117 b) 15, 222 & 57, 727 c) 10, 117 & 44,200 d) 10, 117 & 57, 727

24 .If the volume of a sphere is 345 cu. cm., solve for its diameter, in cm. (6/90)
a) 8.7 b) 7.8 c) 9.2 d) 10.5
25. If the LPG spherical tank of Shell Company has an inside diameter of 15 meters and it could be safely
filled to 75% of its total volume, compute for the volume, in cu. m, of LPG that could be safely stored in
the tank. (10/90)
a) 1,235 b) 1,456 c) 1,325 d) 1, 345

26. Find the area of the triangle below. (6/90)

a) 64 sq. m.
b) 60 sq. m.
c) 67 sq. m.
d) 69 sq. m.

27. Find the measure of each of the interior angle of a hexagon. (6/90)
a) 1300 b) 1250 c) 1350 d) 1200

28. A man standing on top a 48.5 m. building has horizontal eyesight 1.5 m. from the top of the building.
He took two depression readings to a building just nearby, to the top and to the foot of the building. The
angles of depression are 500 and 800 respectively. Find the height of the nearby building, in m. The man
stands at the edge of the building and both building lie on the same ground level. (4/91)
a) 39.50 b) 39.49 c) 40.39 d) 49.39

29. The semi circle shown below has a radius of 15 cm. Find the area of the shaded part. (4/91)

a) 173.43 cm2
b) 176.40 cm2
c) 175.45 cm2
d) 180.34 cm2
30. An oblique triangle has sides a = 6 cm, b = 9 cm and angle C = 320. Solve the other angles of the
triangle. (4/92)
a) 39006’48”; 108053’12” b) 40007’50” ; 109054’13”
c) 38 09’55”; 110 55’14”
0 0
d) 41005’48”; 108050’11”

31. The PLDT has a 183 m straight vertical tower. Two cables support the tower. The cables are anchored
to a horizontally leveled ground. The vertical lines of anchor points pass directly through the center base of
the tower. If angles made by the cables are 440 and 580 respectively, find the lengths of the cables and the
distance between the anchors of the cables in meters. (4/92)
a) 199.5, 250.4, and 305.2 b) 263.4, 215.8, and 303.9
c) 363.4, 235.9, and 289.9 d) 223.4, 215.7, and 405.7

32. A PLDT tower and a monument stand on a level plane. The angles of depression of the top and foot of
the monument viewed from the top of the tower 130 and 350 respectively. The height of the tower is 50 m.
Find the height, in m., of the monument. (4/93)
a) 34.515 b) 33.513 c) 33.56 d) 34.535

33. An aero lift airplane can fly at an air speed of 300 mph. If there is a wind blowing toward the east at 50
mph, what should be the plane’s compass heading in order for it to have a course of 30 0? What will be the
planes ground speed, in mph, if it flies this course? (4/93)
a) 320.80 b) 324.35 c) 321.86 d) 320.85

34. The radius of a circle inscribed in a triangle with sides of 5, 7, and 10 is: (10/93)
a) 1.744 b) 1.747 c) 1.477 d) 1.774

36. The area of a triangle whose sides are 25, 39 and 40 is (10/94)
a) 486 b) 846 c) 648 d) 468

37. How many sides has an equiangular polygon if each interior angle is 165º (10/94)
 a) 32 b) 42 c) 24 d) 28

38. Integrate (7x3 + 4x2) dx (10/94)

a) (7x3/3) + (4x2/2) + c b) (7/4)x4 + (4/5)x2 + c
c) (7/4) x4 + (4/3) x3 + c c) none of the above

39. Simplify: bm/n (04/95)

a) n√bm b) bm+n c) b/n d) 1/n√bm

40. Log n √x = log (x) 1/n (04/95)

a) log (nx) b) log (x)n c) log (x) / n d) n log (x)

41. The integral of ∫ cos x dx with respect to x (04/95)

a) – sin x + c b) sin x + c c) cos x + c d) – cos x + c

42. What is the base of an isosceles triangle whose sides are 1.3 units in length and whose height is 1 unit?
(04/95)
a) 2 b) 44 c) 1.93 d) 1.66

43. What is the curve generated by a point rotating about its axis while travelling at constant speed parallel
to its axis. (04/95)
a) helix b) cycloid c) spiral of Archimedes d) hypocycloid

44. Simplifying the expression sec θ – (sec θ) (sin2 θ) will give the value of equal to: (04/95)
a) cos2 θ b) cos θ c) sin2 θ d) sin θ

45. Simplify: cos2 θ (1 + tan2 θ) (04/95)

a) tan 2θ b) 1 c) sin 2 θ d) cos 2θ

46. Given a triangle with angle c = 28.7°, side a = 132 units and side b = 224 units. Solve for the angle B.
(04/95)
a) B = 130º b) B = 110° c) B = 120° d) B = 90o

47. If a simple constant, what is the derivative of y = xa ? (10/95)

a) (a-1) x b) ax c) x d) a xa-1

48. The logarithm of 1 to any base is (10/95)

a) Indeterminate b) one c) infinity d) zero

49. What is the value of (0.001)2/3 ? (10/95)

a) antilog [2/3 log 0.001] b) antilog [log (0.001/(2/3))]
c) 2/3 antilog [3/2 log 0.001] d) antilog [3/2 log 0.001]

50. Naperian logarithms have a base closest to which number? (10/95)

a) 153 b) 162 c) 2.72 d) 10

51. (n √ b)n is equal to: (10/95)

a) b b) b1/n c) 1/n b1/n d) b2n

52. The distance a body travels is a function of time and is given by x (t) = 18t + 9t 2. Find its velocity at t =
2. (10/95)
a) 36 b) 54 c) 24 d) 20

53. Log of the nth root of x equals log of x to the 1/n power and also equal to: (04/96)
a) log (x)/n b) n log(x) c) log ( x to the 1/n power / n d) (n-1)log (x)
55. What is the solution of the first order differential equation y (k + 1) = y(k) + 5? (04/96)
a) y (k) = 4 – 5/k b) y (k) = 20 + 5/k
c) y (k) = C – k d) The solution is non-existence for real value of y
where C is a constant

56. Find the slope of the tangent to a parabola, y = x2 at a point on the curve where x = ½. (04/96)
a) 0 b) 1 c) ¼ d) – ½

57. What are the exact values of the cosine and tangent trigonometric functions of acute angle A, given sin
A = 3/7? (04/96)
a) cos A = 7/2√10 ; tan A = 2√10/3 b) cos A = 2√10/7 ; tan A = 3√10/20
c) cos A = 2√10/7 ; tan A = 7/2√10 d) cos A = 2√10/3 ; tan A= 7√10/20

58. What is the natural log of e to the xy power? (04/96)

a) 1/xy b) 2.781/xy c) xy d) 2.718 xy

59. Integral of sin x dx: (04/96)

a) sec x + c b) – cos x + c c) cos x + c d) csc x + c

60. Simplify the equation sin2 θ (1 + cot2 θ) will give the value equal to: (04/96)
a) 1 b) sin2 θ c) sin2 θ sec2 θ d) cos2 θ

61. Simplify the expression Lim x2 - 16 /x – 4 ; x → 4 (04/96)

a) 1 b) 8 c) 0 d) 16

62. The area of a circle is 89.42 sq.in. What is the circumference? (04/96)
a) 35.33 in. b) 32.25 in. c) 33.52 in. d) 35.55 in.

63. The intercept form for algebraic straight equation is: (04/96)
a) a/x + y/b = 1 b) y = mx + b c) Ax + By + C = 0 d) x/a + y/b = 1

64. Determine the equation of the line tangent to the graph y = 2x2 + 1, at the point (1, 3). (04/96)
a) y = 4x + 1 b) y = 4x – 1 c) y = 2x – 1 d) y = 2x + 1

65. If a is a simple constant, what is the derivative of y = x a ? (04/96)

a) a x a-1 b) (a-1)x c) xa-1 d) ax

66. Find the slope of the line y – x = 5 (04/96)

a) 1 b) 5 + x c) – ½ d) ¼

67. If x to the ¾ power equals 8, 8 equals: (04/96)

a) -9 b) 6 c) 9 d) 16

68. Find the derivative of the function 2x2 + 8x + 9 with respect to x. (04/96)
a)Df (x) = 4x – 8 b) Df (x) = 2x + 9 c) Df (x) = 2x + 8 c) Df (x) = 4x + 8

69. Find the slope of the line tangent to the curve y = x3 - 2x + 1 at x = 1(04/96).
a) 1 b) ½ c) 1/3 d) ¼

70. The area of a regular hexagon inscribed a circle radius is 1: (10/96)

a) 2.698 b) 2.598 c) 3.698 d) 3.598

71. What is the length of the line with slope 4/3 from a point (6, 4) to the y-axis? (10/96)
a) 25 b) 75 c) 10 d) 50

72. What is the cosine of 120°? (10/96)

 a) 0.500 b) – 0.500 c) -0.450 d) 0.866

73. Find the partial derivative of 4x2 – 3xy with respect to x. (10/96)
a) 6x + 3y b) 8x - 6y c) 12x + 4y d) 8x – 3y

74. What is the appropriate total area bounded by y = sin x and y = 0 over the interval 0 < x < 2
radius). (10/96)
b) 2 c) 4 d) 0

75. What are the x and y coordinates of the focus of the conic section described by the following equation?
(Angle θ corresponds to a right triangle with adjacent side x, opposite side y and hypotenuse r.) r sin sin2 θ
= cos θ. (10/96)
a) (1/4, 0) c) (0, 0) d) (-1/2, 0)

76. The equation x2 + y2 - 4x + 2y – 20 = 0 describes (10/96)

a) a circle of radius 5 centered at the origin b) An ellipse centered at (2, -1)
c) A sphere center at the origin d) A circle radius 5 centered at (2, -1)

77. The first derivative of kinetic energy with respect to time is: (10/96)
a) Power b) Work c) Momentum d) Force

78. Resolve x + 2/x2 – 7x + 12 into a partial fractions: (10/96)

a) (6/x – 4) – (5/x – 3) b) (4/x – 4) + (3/x – 3)
c) (5/x – 4) – (3/x – 3) d) (6/x – 4) + (4/x – 3)

79. Which value is equal to log to the base e of e to the -7x power? (10/96)
a) -7x b) 10 to the -7x power c) 7 d) -7 log to the base 10

80. What conic section is described by the following equation? 4x2 – y2 + 8x + 4y = 15 (10/96)
a) Parabola b) ellipse c) hyperbola d) circle

81. Resolve (3x2 – 8x + 9)/(x – 2)3 into partial fractions: (10/96)

a) 3 (x + 2) – 4/(x + 2)2 + 5/(x – 3) 3
b) 3/(x – 2) + 4/(x – 2)2 + 5/(x – 2) 3
c) 3/(x + 2) – 4/(x – 2)2 + 5/(x – 2) 3
d) 3/(x – 2) + 4/(x + 2)2 + 5/(x – 2) 3

82. Angles are measured from the positive horizontal axis, and the positive direction is counter clockwise.
What are the values of sin B and cos B in the 4th quadrant? (10/96)
a) sin B > 0 and cos B < 0 b) sin B < 0 and cos B < 0
c) sin B > 0 and cos B > 0 d) sin B < 0 and cos B > 0

83. What is the slope of the graph y = -x2 at x = 2? (10/96)

a) 3 b) -4 c) -2 d) 4

84. Given cos 2A = 2 cos2 A – 1. Find cos 75°. (10/96)

a) 0.259 b) 0.368 c) 0.248 d) 0.359

85. If y = cos x, what is dy/dx? (04/97)

a) sec x b) –sec x c) sin x d) –sin x

86. What is the radius of a sphere whose radius is at the origin and circumference passes through the point
8,1,6? (4/97)
a) 11 b) 9 c) 10.05 d) 10.5

87. What expression is equivalent to: log (x) – log (y + z)? (4/97)
 a) log x + log y + log z b) log x/(y+z) c) log x – log y – log z d) log y + log (x + z)

88. What is the first derivative, y’, of the expression (xy)x = e. (4/97)
a) (-y/x2)(1- ln xy) b) (-y/x)(1+ln xy) c) 0 d) x/y

89. An observer wishes to determine the height of a tower. He takes sights to the top of the tower from
points A and B at the ground, which are 50 ft apart, at the same elevation on a direct line to the tower. The
vertical angles at points A and B are 300 and 400 respectively. What is the height of the tower? (4/97)
a) 85.60 ft b) 143.97 ft c) 110.29 ft d) 92.54 ft

90. The general equation of a conic section is given by the following equation:
Ax2 + Bxy + Cy2 + Dx + Ey + F = 0. A curve may be identified as an ellipse by which of the following
conditions? (10/97)
a) B2 – 4AC < 0 b) B2 – 4AC = 0 c) B2 – 4AC > 0 d) B2 – 4AC = 1

91. Find the derivative of x3 – 5x + 2 at x = 2. (10/97)

a) 5 b) 7 c) 6 d) 8

92. What type of curve is generated by a point which moves in uniform circular motion about an axis, while
travelling with a constant speed parallel to the axis. ( 10/97)
a) cycloid b) helix c) epicycloids d) spiral of Archimedes

93. Find the second derivative of x3 – 5x2 + 0. (10/97)

a) 10x – 5 b) 6x – 10 c) 3x + 10 d) 3x2 -5x

94. Find the value of sin 2θ. (10/97)

a. 2 sin θ cos θ b) sin θ cos θ c) cos2θ – sin2θ d) 2sin2 θ cos θ

95. If log12x = 2, find the value of x. (10/97)

a) 144 b) 414 c) 524 d) 425

96. A function is given as y2 + y + x2 -2x = 5. What value of x maximises y? (10/97)

a) 3 b) 1 c) 10 d) 2

97. Compute the limit: lim {(x +2)/(x-2)}

x→  (10/97)
a) 0 b) 1 c) 2 d) infinite

98. Evaluate the integral of cos x dx with limits ∏ /4 to ∏/2. (10/97)

a) 0.329 b) 0.293 c) 0.923 d) 0.239

99. Given triangle ABC in which A = 30°30’, B = 100m and C = 200m. Find the length of side a. (10/97)
a) 124.64 m. b) 142.46 m. c) 164.24 m. d) 146.42 m

100. What is the area bounded by the curve y = x3, the x –axis, and the line x = -2, and x = 1. (10/97)
a) 4.25 b) 5.24 c) 2.45 d) 4.52

101. 38.5 to the x power = 6.5 to the x – 2 power, solve for x using logarithms. (04/98)
a) 2.70 b) -2.10 c) 2.10 d) 2.02

102. What is the sine of 820°? (04/98)

a) 0.984 b) 0.866 c) – 8.866 d) – 0.500

103. Find the derivatives with respect to x of the function √(2 – 3x2). (04/98)
a) – 2x2/√(2 – 3x2) b) - 3x/√(2 – 3x2) c) -3x/√(2 + 3x2) d) 3x/√(2 – 3x2)
104. The distance of a body travels is a function of time and is given by x(t) = 16t + 8t2.. Find its velocity
at t = 3. (04/98)
a) 64 b) 54 c) 56 d) 44

105. What is the area between y = 0, y = 3x2, x = 0 and x = 2? (04/98)

a) 8 b) 24 c) 12 d) 6

106. A box is to made from a piece of zinc plate 20 sq. in. by cutting equal square from each corner and
turning up the plate to form the sides. What is the volume of the largest box that can be constructed? (4/98)
a) 599.95 cu in b) 592.59 cu in c) 579.50 cu in d) 622.49 cu in

107. A square has a perimeter of 64 in. If the area of a circle is equal to that of the circle, what is the
circumference of the circle?
a) 24.45 in b) 56.72 in c) 86.5 in d) 51.23 in

108. Find the length of the side of a regular octagon inscribed in a circle with radius 4 in.
a) 1.5 in b) 5.75 in c) 3.06 in d) 7.22 in

109. A trapezoid has a bottom base of 10 in and top base of 6 in. If the height is 5 in., find its area.
a) 40 sq. in b) 45 sq. in. c) 30 sq. in. d) 35 sq in.

110. What is the radius of a circle inscribed in a triangle whose sides are 6.9 and 13 in.?
a) 1.074 in. b) 1.244 in. c) 1.69 in. d) 1.478
111. Find the area of a pentagon having a perimeter of 50 in.
a) 162 sq in. b) 172 sq. in. c) 182 sq. in. d) 152 sq. in
112. Find the number of diagonals in a nonagon.
a) 25 b) 23 c) 29 d) 27

113. If the number of diagonals in polygon is 9, what polygon is this?

a) Pentagon b) Hexagon c) Octagon d) Nonagon

114. Two trains travel from the same point, one went west at the rate of 10 kph, while the other traveled at
N 100 E at 20 kph. After 3 hours, find the distance, in km, between the two cars.
a) 23.45 b) 45.34 c) 63.45 d) 71.59

115. A car travels 36 kph due east and another car from the same point at N 30 0 E at the rate of 72 kph.
After 2 hrs, the distance between the two cars is:
a) 116.78 km b) 124.71 km c) 134.65 km d) 120.65 km

116. Find the measure of the two interior angles, in degrees, of a regular decagon.
a) 110 b) 123 c) 144 d) 156

117. A circle has an area of 100 sq in, find its circumference, in inches.
a) 65.34 b) 42.34 c) 23.22 d) 35.44

118. Find the maximum length, in cm., of the side of a square that can be cut from a circle whose radius is
10 cm.
a) 14.1 b) 16.23 c) 7.07 d) 9.23