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Act Math Formulas

The document provides a comprehensive review of important math formulas and concepts for the ACT exam. It includes formulas for geometry topics like area, volume, trigonometry, and conic sections. It also reviews concepts for arithmetic and geometric sequences and series, logarithms, and properties of triangles, parallel lines, and radians. The review is intended to refresh knowledge of essential formulas and refresh understanding of key math topics frequently included on the ACT.

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Miles
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
478 views

Act Math Formulas

The document provides a comprehensive review of important math formulas and concepts for the ACT exam. It includes formulas for geometry topics like area, volume, trigonometry, and conic sections. It also reviews concepts for arithmetic and geometric sequences and series, logarithms, and properties of triangles, parallel lines, and radians. The review is intended to refresh knowledge of essential formulas and refresh understanding of key math topics frequently included on the ACT.

Uploaded by

Miles
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ACT PREPARATION- MATH FORMULAS & CONCEPTS

ACT MATH FORMULAS:


total miles/total time: average mph
length of arc: (n/360)*(2r)
r=radius n=central angle
Area of Sector: (n/360)*(r^2)
The longest segment in a circle is the diameter because it goes right
through the middle.
Surface Area of a square: 2LW+2WH+2LH
Volume of a cylinder: r^2h (base*height of cylinder)
% increase/decrease: [actual increase (or decrease)/original
amount] *100%
Area of an equilateral triangle: [s^23]/4
s=side length (all 3 are EQUAL)
Conic Sections:
equations and diagrams on last page

Parabola
Circle
Ellipse
Hyperbola

Arithmetic Sequence & series:


sequence= list of numbers
series= sum of a limited list of those numbers

Allimages/diagrams/formulapicturesweretakenoffGoogleImagesandnoneofthemareownedbyme.

ACT PREPARATION- MATH FORMULAS & CONCEPTS

Geometric Sequences & Series:

Sum of an infinite series:


Converging series- the numbers keep getting smaller and smaller
until they read 0
Sum= (term 1) / ( 1-r)
r=rate
term 1= first term in the series.

If you are a bit confused with how to calculate the sum or term in a
sequence, you can go to this website, and it explains how you can use
your approved calculator to solve it on the test:
http://mathbits.com/MathBits/TISection/Algebra2/sequences.htm
Permutations & Combinations:
The difference is that in permutations order matters.

Example:
2
A code has 4 digits in a specific order, the digits are between 0-9. How many
different permutations are there if one digit may only be used once?
Source for permutations example:
http://www.mathplanet.com/education/algebra-2/discrete-mathematics-and-probability/permutati
ons-and-combinations
2

ACT PREPARATION- MATH FORMULAS & CONCEPTS

A four digit code could be anything between 0000 to 9999, hence there are
10,000 combinations if every digit could be used more than one time but since
we are told in the question that one digit only may be used once it limits our
number of combinations. In order to determine the correct number of
permutations we simply plug in our values into our formula:

In our example the


order of the digits were important
, if the order didn't
matter we would have what is the definition of a combination. The number
of combinations of
n objects taken r
at a time is determined by the
following formula:

Trigonometry review:
The ACT only includes about 3 questions on trigonometry. It is
taught usually in pre-calculus, therefore, if you have not yet
reached that level, this is about as much as you will have to know
about trig on the test. Try memorizing these equations:
SOHCAHTOA
sine= opposite/hypotenuse
cosine=adjacent/hypotenuse
tangent= opposite/adjacent

ACT PREPARATION- MATH FORMULAS & CONCEPTS

Conversion for radians:

Basic explanation of radians, angles, and


their relationship:
2 radians= unit circle you see on the
right
2 radians=360 degrees (one trip around the circle)
you might be catching on to the pattern now that
/2= 90 degrees
= 180 degrees
3/2= 270 degrees
the circle goes counterclockwise for positive
radian/degree measures, and clockwise for negative
radian/degree measures
The circle has radius of 1 unit on all sides. That is why it is called the
unit circle
Some other radian measures you might want to be familiar with are
these
/6= 30 degrees
/4= 45 degrees
/3= 60 degrees
you can check this by using the conversion just above by
taking /6 * 180 = 60 degrees and so on
Identities:

sin^2(x)+cos^2(x)=1
1+tan^2(x)=sec^2(x)
(divide all sides by
sin^2(x)
1+cot^2(x)=csc^2(x)
(divide all sides by
cos^2(x)

ACT PREPARATION- MATH FORMULAS & CONCEPTS

Logarithms: inverse of exponential


you will sometimes have to use logs in order to solve something like
5^x=25 (although this is an easy example, it will surely not be as easy as
this)

TRIANGLES:
Law Of Sines (LOS):
you may need to use this in order to solve for
triangles or find side lengths.
as you can see, it does not matter whether the angle measure or
side length is on top, you just have to make sure that the order
is the same for all three rations.

Law of Cosines (LOC):


LOC can only be used when for example
you are trying to find side c, and you have
sides a & b, you must also have the angle
measure that is between sides a & b in order
to complete all parts of the equation. Without
the angle measure across the unknown side (or
vice versa) you have to use LOS.

Pythagorean Theorem:
ONLY for right triangles
a^2+b^2=c^2

ACT PREPARATION- MATH FORMULAS & CONCEPTS

Triangle Inequality Theorem:


the length of one side of a triangle must
be greater than the difference and less than the sum of the other
two sides
3-4-5 triangle
4+5>3
5-4<3
(I have personally seen this question on the ACT tests that I have
taken. The questions is similar where it gives you two sides of a
triangle ( not necessarily a right triangle) and you have to pick the
possible minimum side length. All you have to do is test the side lengths,
starting with the smallest one and working you way up until you have a
match).
Triangle Similarities:
AAA (angle-angle-angle
congruence)
SSS (side-side-side congruence)
SAS (side-angle-side congruencethe angle has to be between the
2 sides)
CPCTC (corresponding parts of
congruent triangles are
congruent)
HL (hypotenuse-leg >> right
triangle; pythagorean theorem to
solve for 3rd side)
Parallel Lines & Corresponding Angles:
this applies to parallel lines that are cut by a transversal.
corresponding angles are equal and angles on a diagonal (for
example angle x & w in the diagram below, are equal as well)
adjacent angles add up to 180 degrees because they form a line.

ACT PREPARATION- MATH FORMULAS & CONCEPTS

Continue onto next page...

ACT PREPARATION- MATH FORMULAS & CONCEPTS

CONIC SECTIONS EXPLAINED:


(Continued from pg. 1)

This is a bit more complicated than it gets on the actual ACT; however,
I think that it gets the concept across pretty nicely. You will not have
to know the parts about the transverse axis and focus of each conic,

ACT PREPARATION- MATH FORMULAS & CONCEPTS

so do not worry about them. Just make sure that you know how each
graph looks like (distinguish them) and their equations.

Some helpful example questions are also available here:


http://www.act.org/compass/sample/pdf/geometry.pdf

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