HERE ARE THE MATH FORMULAS YOU MUST MEMORIZE FOR THE SAT:

1) Percentage and Percent Change ( (Part/Whole) and (Difference/Original) x 100)

2) The Circle Proportionality Formula (Area of Slice/Area of Circle = Arc/
Circumference = Measure of Inner Angle/360)
3) The Formula for a Line (standard y=mx+b format as well as point-slope format: y-
y1 = m(x-x1), and the slope equation (y2-y1) / (x2-x1) ).
4) All 3 Quadratic Identities (unfactored to factored form)

(x^2-y^2)=(x+y)(x-y)
x^2+2xy+y^2=(x+y)^2
x^2-2xy+y^2=(x-y)^2

5) The Third Side Rule for Triangles (a-b) < c < (a+b) if c represents the third side
and b and a represent the lengths of the other two sides.
6) Direct and Indirect Proportion ( (a1/b1)=(a2/b2) and (a1a2 = b1b2)
7) Average = (Total / Number of things)
8) Probability = (Desired Possibilities / Total Possibilities).
9) Surface Area of a Cube =6s^2
10) Distance = Rate x Time

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That!s all you need to know as far as formulas!

YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW THE DEFINITIONS OF THE FOLLOWING TERMS:

-PEMDAS AND THE ORDER OF OPERATIONS. If you don!t know what I!m talking
about here, talk to your math teacher, pronto! Just a reminderParentheses,
Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction. Also remember that a
TI-83 (perfectly legal on this test) automatically performs PEMDAS so long as you
enter the expression correctly.

- MEAN, MEDIAN, MODE. Mean is the same as average. Median is the number in
the middle after rearranging from low to high. In the case that the list has no true
middle because it has an even number of terms, find the average of the middle two.
So the median of the list { 1 1 5 5 } is (1+5)/2 which equals 3. MODE is quite simply
the number that appears the MOST. Ties don!t countthe example I just listed, for
example, has no mode.

-INTEGERS. Integers are whole numbers, including zero and negative whole
numbers. Think of them as hash marks on the number line. (For those who don!t
know what hash marks are, picture the while yardage markings on the grass of a
football field.) Don!t forget that zero is an integer and that negative whole numbers
are integers too. Remember that -3 is less than -2, not the other way arounds
(sounds simple but is a common mistake. If I fooled you initially with that one, think
of greater than as further to the right on a number line, and less than as further
to the left.

-PRIME NUMBERS. Prime numbers are positive integers that are only divisible by
themselves and the number 1. Be able to list all the primes you between 1 and
50remember that 1 is not a prime and there are no negative primes. By the way,
51 is not primethat question actually showed up on a recent SAT. 17 " 3 = 51.
What, you forgot your times tables for 17? ;)

2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19,23,29,31,37,41,43,47,53, etc

Also, be able to use a factor tree and find all the factors of a number and perform a
prime factorization of a number (this means you find a series of prime numbers
that multiplies together to equal that number). The prime factorization of 18, for
example, is 3 " 3 " 2.

-PYTHAGOREAN TRIPLES. These are particular types of Right Triangles that just
happen to have exact integers as sides. The SAT loves to use them, so know them
by heart and save yourself the trouble of calculating all those roots. Here are the
ones they use:

3/4/5, 5/12/13, 6/8/10, 7/24/25, 8/15/17

Please note that Pythagorean Triples are not the same as 45/45/90 and 30/60/90
trianges, which are provided for you at the beginning of each Math section.)

-Y LESS THAN X
(for example, x-7 is the correct mathematic translation of 7 less than x. Be careful
because many students will write this as 7-x, which is incorrect.)

-THE WORD OF. (of always means multiply.)

-DIGITS. Digits are to numbers what letters are to words. There are only 10
possible digits, 0 through 9.

-MULTIPLES. The MULTIPLES of x are the ANSWERS I get when I MULTIPLY x by

another INTEGER. For example the multiples of 5 are 5,10,15,20 etc. as well as 0
(a multiple of everything because anything times zero is zero) as well as -5, -10,
-15 and other NEGATIVE MULTIPLES.

-FACTORS. The factors of x are the answers I get when I divide x by another
integer. For example the factors of 60 are 30, 20,15,12,10,6,5,4,3,2,1, as well as
-5,-6,-10 etc.

-REMAINDER. Remainder is the whole number that!s left over after division. For
example 8/3 equals 2 remainder 2. Remainder is particularly helpful on pattern and
sequence problems.
-CONSECUTIVE INTEGERS. Consecutive integers are integers in order from least
to greatest, for example 1,2,3. The SAT may also ask for consecutive even or odd
integers. For example -6,-4,-2, 0, 2, 4 etc (yes zero is even) or 1, 3, 5 etc.

-SUM. Sum means the result of addition. The sum of 3 and 5 is 8. I know, duh, but
you!d be surprised how many students will say 15 if they are not paying close
attention.

-DIFFERENCE. Difference is the result of subtraction.

-PRODUCT The result of multiplication. Do not confuse with sum!

-ODD AND EVEN NUMBERS. Even numbers are all the integers divisible by 2, and
odd numbers are all the other integers.

-POSITIVE and NEGATIVE NUMBERS. Be aware that if the problem asks for a
negative number, that does not necessarily mean a negative INTEGER. -1.5 will
do just fine. Zero is neither negative nor positive. Be aware of strange tricks with
negatives, and that negatives taken to EVEN powers are positive and that
negatives taken to ODD powers are negative.

In addition, you!re going to have to remember basic geometrical concepts (vertical

angles are congruent, perpendicular lines have slopes that are negative
reciprocals of each other, etc.), and how to re-write expressions with negative or
fractional powers. You WON!T need the distance formula, the Quadratic Equation,
Trigonometric Identities, the equations for permutations/combinations, the equation
of a circle, fancy programs for the calculator, or even the arithmetic/geometric
sequence formulas. The fewer formulas you need to remember, the more you can
focus on TECHNIQUE, and GOOD TECHNIQUE is the true key to an excellent SAT
score. I don!t teach my students unnecessary formulas because I can teach them to
find the answers using a more LOGICAL approach to the problem.

So why did I spend all those years in math class, memorizing formulas, you might
ask, when most of these formulas are unnecessary for the SAT? Well, as I
mentioned earlier, formulas are de-emphasized on the SAT because the SAT is
meant to be a test of LOGIC more than a test of raw FACTS. All those formulas you
learned in math class are fine to know, but if you respond to all the SAT Math
problems in exactly the same way your math teacher taught you, you!re probably
going to run out of time, and you!re most likely not going to get a very good score.
This isn!t Math class, where you have to show your work or use proper technique.
This is the SAT, where the only thing that matters is that you get the correct answer
as quickly as possible. So you can get away with shortcuts galore. This is why the
Best SAT Math tutors focus on PROBLEM RECOGNITION, TECHNIQUE and
LOGIC much more than they focus on pure memorization.