Table of Contents

Introduction
What You Should Know About SAT Math
How to Use This eBook
Meet the Authors

Skills and Strategies for a Perfect 800 in SAT Math

All About Mental Math
Why Mental Math is So Important to SAT Math Success
Mental Math and Number Sense
Getting Started With Mental Math
Multiplying Tips for Mental Math
A Handy SAT Mental Math Shortcut
Math Operation Strategies
Introduction to Estimation and Plugging in Numbers
All About “Ballparking” (a.k.a. Estimation)
All About Plugging In
Backsolving: A Powerful Tool for Multiple Choice Questions
SAT Math Comprehension Skills
Interpreting Information and Understanding Vocabulary
Introduction to Processes and Logic
Processes and Logic on the No Calculator Section
Processes and Logic on the Calculator Section

SAT Math Formulas and Patterns

Formulas for Two-Dimensional Geometry
Formulas for Three-Dimensional Geometry
Formulas for Coordinate Geometry and Linear Equations
Statistics and Probability Formulas
Other Numerical Patterns

20 Key Math Areas, 20 SAT Practice Problems

Heart of Algebra Practice Questions
Problem Solving and Data Analysis Practice Questions
Passport to Advanced Math Practice Questions
Additional Topics in Math Practice Questions

Answer Key and Explanations

How to Use These Answer Explanations
Answer Explanations

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Introduction
Congratulations! You’ve chosen to aim for the full 800 on SAT Math. This eBook can help you along
the way. Before we get started, though, let’s look at some basic facts about the SAT Math test itself,
and then discuss the best ways to use this eBook.

What You Should Know About SAT Math

● The SAT Math Test assesses the mathematical skills students are expected to obtain before
grade 12 (meaning concepts up through advanced algebra and basic trigonometry, with some
pre-calculus concepts, but no calculus).
● There are two SAT math sections, and they comprise the third and fourth sections of the test.
○ The third section of the SAT is ​the “No Calculator” SAT Math section​. As the name
indicates, you can’t use a calculator in this section.
○ The fourth section of the SAT is ​the “Calculator” SAT Math section​. As you’d expect,
you ​can​ use a calculator for this section (but it must be an approved one).
● There are 58 math questions on the SAT in total. They are formatted and distributed in the two
SAT Math sections as follows:
○ No Calculator SAT Math:​ 20 questions (15 multiple choice, 5 grid-in)
○ Calculator SAT Math:​ 38 questions (30 multiple choice, 8 grid-in)
● The No Calculator SAT Math section has a 25-minute time limit. The Calculator SAT Math
section has a 55-minute time limit.
● Across both sections, the breakdown of the College Board’s official SAT Math problems is as
follows: Heart of Algebra (19 questions), Problem Solving and Data Analysis (17 questions),
Passport to Advanced Math (16 questions), and Additional Topics in Math (6 questions).

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How to Use This eBook
This eBook has three parts: a list of strategies and skills for getting an 800 in SAT Math, a list of
formulas and patterns that you can expect to see in SAT Math problems, and a set of practice
questions (a question for every type of math concept you'll find on the SAT).

How to Use the Strategies and Skills Section

This section walks you through best practices for tackling SAT Math questions with confidence,
accuracy, and efficiency. You'll see top skills and strategies, with examples of how they are used.
However, these are by no means the only skills and strategies you need to use, or the only ways to use
them. Instead, treat this section of the eBook as a strong foundation for your own personal blend of
strategies and skills. The approaches we recommend here are the ones that seem to work best for
everyone. But in the course of your SAT prep you’re bound to find additional strategies and skills that
will help you ascend to SAT Math rockstar status.

How to Use the Formulas and Patterns Section

Above all, do NOT simply memorize the formulas and patterns in this eBook. Instead, learn what the
major SAT Math formulas and patterns are like in use. Practice each formula and pattern by plugging in
different numbers. Observe how the processes play out differently if you plug in fractions vs. decimals,
negative numbers vs. positive numbers, algebraic variables vs. real numbers, and so on. As you
experiment with the information in this section, always strive to fully understand how and why a formula
or pattern works.

How to Use the Practice Questions

If you want an 800 in Math, you can’t afford to miss a single question on the test. Although SAT Math
scores are curved a little bit differently on every exam, more often than not missing even one question
will put you below the 800-point maximum.

To cover all of the bases, you need extensive practice. You should ideally go through several
full-length SAT Math sections, as well as additional practice sessions that target specific SAT Math
subjects and skills. As you prepare for this kind of rigorous practice, the 20 practice questions here are
a great place to start. Each question is one example (one of many!) of the 20 different types of SAT

Math content listed by the College Board, the official makers of the SAT.

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Meet the Authors

Here are the awesome authors who wrote the content for this eBook:

Anika Manzoor
A former High School blogger, Anika now serves as the editor for Magoosh's
company and exam blogs. In other words, she spends way too much time
scouring the web for the perfect GIF for a given post. She's currently an MPP
candidate at Harvard University and wants her life back, so if you ever find it,
please let her know.

Chris Lele
Chris Lele is the GRE and SAT Curriculum Manager (and vocabulary wizard) at
Magoosh Online Test Prep. In his time at Magoosh, he has inspired countless
students across the globe, turning what is otherwise a daunting experience into
an opportunity for learning, growth, and fun. Some of his students have even
gone on to get near perfect scores. Chris is also very popular on the internet.
His GRE channel on YouTube has over 10 million views. You can read Chris's
awesome blog posts on the Magoosh ​GRE blog​ and ​High School blog​! You can
follow him on ​Twitter​ and ​Facebook​!

David Recine
David is a test prep expert at Magoosh. He has a Bachelor of Social Work from
the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a Masters in Teaching English to
Speakers of other Languages from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. He
has been teaching K-12, University, and adult education classes since 2007
and has worked with students from every continent. Currently, David lives in a
small town in the American Upper Midwest. When he’s not teaching or writing,
David studies Korean, plays with his son, and takes road trips to Minneapolis to
get a taste of city life. Follow David on ​Google+​ and ​Twitter​!

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 Lucas Fink
Lucas is the teacher behind Magoosh TOEFL. He’s been teaching TOEFL
preparation and more general English since 2009, and the SAT since 2008.
Between his time at Bard College and teaching abroad, he has studied
Japanese, Czech, and Korean. None of them come in handy, nowadays.

Minh Nguyen
Minh's passion for helping students succeed grew during his time as a career
counselor at the University of California, Irvine. Now, he's helping students all
over the world by spilling SAT/ACT secrets through blog posts on Magoosh.
When he's not busy tutoring or writing, he enjoys playing guitar, traveling, and
talking about himself in third-person.

Rachel Kapelke-Dale
Rachel is a High School and Graduate Exams blogger at Magoosh. She has a
Bachelor of Arts from Brown University, an MA from the Université de Paris VII,
and a PhD from University College London. She has taught test preparation
and consulted on admissions practices for over eight years. Currently, Rachel
divides her time between the US and London. Follow Rachel on ​Twitter​, or
learn more about her writing ​here​!

Rita Neumann
Rita creates fun, inspiring, and educational resources that introduce students to
Magoosh and help them prep for their exams. She earned both her BA and
Master of Pacific International Affairs from UC San Diego, where she also
studied Spanish, French, and Portuguese. Rita loves education and marketing,
just as much as she loves vinyasa yoga and baking chocolate chip cookies.

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Skills and Strategies for a Perfect 800 in SAT Math
Prepping for a perfect 800 in SAT Math takes hard work, to be sure. But there’s also some value to
working smarter, not harder. The skills and strategies we're about to show you won’t just help you
answer questions more accurately. You’ll also see ways to answer questions more efficiently. The
faster you can get to the answer, the fewer chances you have to stumble along the way. And of course,
shortcuts and other winning strategies also help you get everything done within the SAT’s time limits.

All About Mental Math

Why Mental Math is So Important to SAT Math Success

You’ll obviously need mental math skills for the No Calculator SAT Math section. But what about the
longer section that allows calculator use? Allow me to let you in on the SAT’s dirty little secret: the
invitation to use a calculator is often a trick. In many cases, actually using a calculator in a problem in
the Calculator SAT Math section can hurt you. For so many problems, calculator use can slow you
down and open you up to mistakes that you could actually avoid if you just used mental math and
scratch paper.

Mental Math and Number Sense

“Mental math” is a term you’re no doubt familiar with. Your teachers probably started talking to you
about mental math in elementary school. But you may not be quite so familiar with the idea of “number
sense.”

Don’t worry—number sense is not as mysterious as it might sound. Think of number sense as a
“companion skill” for mental math. Mental math is the ability to do math in your head. Number sense is
the ability to recognize times when mental math will be helpful, and to understand what kind of mental
math is needed for a given math problem.

As you scale SAT Math to reach its 800-point pinnacle, think of these twin skills as your pickaxe and
your boots. (Your pack itself should be filled with math content knowledge. We’ll get to that in the next
chapters of this eBook.)

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Getting Started With Mental Math
Improving one’s ability to do mental math has always been a good idea, but with the No Calculator
section, it’s been a popular topic. You’re not expected to know how to add or subtract three-digit
numbers or do two-digit multiplications mentally, but for medium sums, this skill can go a long way on
test day. So do a Snoop Dogg and drop that calculator like it’s hot by practicing the following tips to
improve your mental math agility.

Review and expand your times tables

If you’re a little hazy on the times tables you learned oh-so long ago, it might just be a good idea to
review them. Write them all out and see how much you can remember. You can even make flashcards.
If you’re stuck, don’t reach for the calculator; instead, mentally add the number you are multiplying to
the previous number so that you’re practicing mental math as much as possible.

If you’re still sharp with the multiplication tables you learned as a kid, learn some more! Push yourself
as far as you like, but it’s probably not necessary to go past 20. It’s also important to practice mentally
figuring out equations like 170 × 2 or 1.4 × 6.

Don’t just rely on memorization – look out for patterns and relationships, too
The cool thing about numbers is that they’re all related somehow, which you can always use to your
advantage. For example, a solid idea of the relationships between numbers and their factors can help
you if you’re blanking on those expanded times tables you just learned.

Take the number 16. It is always going to be 2 times greater than 8 and vice versa. Therefore, any
product of 16 and ​x​ will always also be the product of 8 and 2​x​. So if you don’t remember what 16 × 3
equals off the bat, you can change 16 to 8 and double 3 to 6 to think of the equation as 8 × 6 instead.

Also, if you do remember your expanded times tables, understanding patterns and relationships can
help you quickly figure out even larger sums without relying on your pencil. Say you come across 27 ×
6 on test day. You probably won’t know that off the top of your head. But if you memorized
multiplication tables for 18, you’ll know that 18 × 9 is the same thing by using this patterns and
relationships strategy.

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On a similar note, use the quarter trick to figure out multiplication or division involving 25. Quick, what
is 200 divided by 25? OK, if that was a fast one, how many quarters in $2? If you said 8 without missing
a beat, do you realize how that’s the same answer for the first question? Whenever you're dealing with
the number 25, it could, therefore, help you to think of 25 as quarters of 100 instead.

Learn front-end addition

When you have to do an equation with two-digit numbers (64 + 78, for example), you can use front-end
addition to make the mental summing easier. Front-end addition involves adding the tens values
before the unit values. In other words, 64 + 78 would end up as:

60 + 70 = 130
4 + 8 = 12
130 + 12 = 142

The point of front-end addition is that you won't have to rely on any sort of “mental marking,” like
carrying over the one, which makes visualizing the summing process so much easier.

This strategy also works for subtraction too. Take 82 – 28. Do 80 – 20 (which equals 60), then 2 – 8
(which equals –6). Add 60 and –6 together to get 54. On paper, it looks like a long process, but it’s
simple and fast once you get the hang of it.

Practice during your down time

If you feel silly doing mental math exercises when you should be doing practice problems, work on
mental math during your downtime, like when you’re waiting in line or on the bus. You can even
incorporate it into your wake up ritual! There are many alarm clock apps that only shut off after you’ve
answered a math question (I suggest the hardest mode). What a great way to practice mental math
AND wake up!

There are also many other small ways you can incorporate math into your mental landscape
throughout the day.

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Doing something as simple as adding a number to itself until you get past 200 is a fun little exercise
when you are waiting for the bus, or for your Twitter feed to load. For example, counting to 200 by 14s
will give you 14, 28, 42, 56, 70, 84, 98, 112, 126, 140, 154, 168, 182, 196, 210. Check your calculator by
diving the final number by 14. If it equals an integer, you did it successfully. If not, you’ll want to try
again. This will help you with adding and it will also help you recognize patterns (oh, I see, 14 × 7 = 98).

Another fun game is to see which digits between 1 and 100 you can arrive at by using 1, 2, 3, and 4 only
once and by using any or all of the following: +, –, multiplication, division, exponents, square roots, and
factorials. (Factorials likely won’t show up on the test, but are nonetheless good for mental math. They
work in the following way: Whatever number is next to the factorial, do a “countdown” by multiplying
each number next to the one that follows it. For example, 3! = 3 × 2 × 1 = 6, 4! = 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 24.)

Can you end up with 99 using this method? What about 100? Here are some other numbers between 1
and 100 to show you how it works. By the way, these are just solutions I came up with. See if you can
come up with your own. Remember: no calculator allowed!

3​2 × (1 + 4) = 45 3​4​ + 5(1) = 86

( √4 )​3! ​– (2)(1) = 62 (4! + 1)(3! – 2) = 100
(3! + 4)​2 ​– 1 = 99

Multiplying Tips for Mental Math

One of the initial stumbling blocks in doing mental multiplication is you might forget that multiplying
larger numbers requires breaking those larger numbers into more manageable pieces.

For instance, if you see 17 × 6, you might think you can’t multiply 17 by anything, except maybe one or
two. But the thing is, you don’t want to think of 17 × 6 as multiplying 17 times anything. I know, kind of
crazy, right? But here’s how you do it:

You break up 17 into two manageable numbers that you can both multiply times 6. Then, add the result
of those two numbers to get the answer. Sure, you could do 9 and 8, meaning (9 × 6) + (9 × 8), ​but the
easiest way is to choose a number ending in a zero​, since those numbers are easiest to multiply.

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For example, 17 can be broken into 10 and 7. (Remember: 7 + 10 = 17.) Multiplying the 6 by 10 should be
pretty instantaneous: it equals 60. That leaves the 7, giving us 7 × 6 = 42. Adding those two gives us 42
+ 60 = 102.

An important point is not to think of this as a writing exercise, in which you write 10 × 7 and 6 × 7.
Multiplying these out the traditional way—pencil and paper—would work best. But when doing
numbers in your head, breaking them up this way makes things a lot easier. What you are doing is
multiplying the 10 × 6, then keeping that 60 “on hold,” while you multiply 6 × 7. Then you add that 60 to
the 42.

What happens when you have a slightly larger number?​ Say 32 × 8?

One way would be to multiply 10 × 8 three times. But a faster way is to multiply 30 × 8, since 30 is a
number ending in zero that is closest to 32. This gives us 30 × 8, which is the same as 3 × 8 with a zero
at the end: 24, adding a zero at the end, gives us 240. We put this number “on hold” and then we
multiply the 2 left over (remember, our original number was 32) times the 8: 2 × 8 = 16. We add this to
the number “on hold”—240—giving us 240 + 16 = 256.

A Handy SAT Mental Math Shortcut

Many of us have a pretty good sense of what the squares of the first 15 integers are. Sure, you might
be a bit shaky on ‘13’ and ‘14’ but you should be comfortable with the rest. Just to be sure, we've
reproduced them below:

1​2​ = 1 6​2​ = 36 11​2​ = 121

2​2​ = 4 7​2​ = 49 12​2​ = 144
3​2​ = 9 8​2​ = 64 13​2​ = 169
4​2​ = 16 9​2​ = 81 14​2​ = 196
5​2​ = 25 10​2​ = 100 15​2​ = 225

Here are more squares students tend to know. (If you know all these, that’s pretty solid! You don’t have
to memorize any more.)
16​2​ = 256

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20​2​ = 400
25​2​ = 625
30​2​ = 900

Why even bring this up in the first place? ​Well, we have a cool mental math shortcut: ​n2​​ – 1.​ Assuming
you know the above, you also know the following: 11 × 13, 14 × 16, 15 × 17 and even the crazy 29 × 31.

How is that possible? Because ​n2​​ – 1 = (​n​ – 1)(​n​ + 1).

Big deal, you say. You already know basic algebra. And what does this have to do with squares?

Well, let’s say ​n​ = 20.

See, by knowing that 20​2​ = 400, then the product of one integer less than 20—the number 19—and
one integer greater than 20—the number 21—will be 400 – 1, which equals 399.

Try it with any of the numbers above, like 11 × 13. For instance, we know that 12​2​ = 144. Therefore, 11 × 13
= 143.

29 × 31? Well, that’s 30​2​ – 1.

Just like that, voila! You’ve doubled your knowledge of squares above.

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Math Operation Strategies

The next group of strategies we’ll look at doesn’t necessarily require mental math, although the mental
math skills we’ve just discuss will mix well with these. What we’re about to look at is “whole question”
strategies to help you smoothly navigate every step of a given SAT Math problem.

Introduction to Estimation and Plugging in Numbers

The lesson you’re about to read is ​not​ your average math class! Remember that math teacher—the one
who would drone on for hours, feverishly scribbling on the board, as though in a trance, with his or her
back turned to class? And remember the test that followed—a follow the step-by-step approach that
put you in a similar zombie-like state?

Well, the good news is the SAT is nothing like that class. It is way better. In fact, it is fun. No, I’m not
joking—nor am I a ‘geek’ who scribbles formulas on my bathroom mirror every Friday night. That SAT
Math is fun is something I hear from my students (who also do not have an affinity for graffiting their
bedrooms with math formulas).

On the SAT, the math section is more of a logic game, a Sudoku puzzle with a countdown (you only
have about 20 minutes on the SAT). And maybe you don’t think logical puzzles are necessarily fun, but
compared to your average math class, they are a downright blast.

Okay, enough with the preamble. Let’s go through some important strategies (or tricks as many refer to
them). Call them strategies, call them tricks… the bottom line is, they will help you rock the SAT come
test day. And, just as importantly, they make prepping for the SAT fun.

All About “Ballparking” (a.k.a. Estimation)

If you are thinking of greasy hotdogs and the seven-inning stretch, you are in the wrong ballpark. In the
SAT world, "ballparking" means guess-timating and is a quick trick to find a solution.

For instance, take a look at the following question:

Mike saved 20% on a shirt before taxes. If he paid $60 for the shirt, what was the original price of the
shirt?

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(A) 48
(B) 64.60
(C) 75
(D) 80
(E) 95

We know that Mike paid $60 for the shirt after the 20% discount. On what planet would the shirt have
cost less before the discount? Obviously not Earth—so we can get rid of (A). (B) is also suspect because
it is so close to 60. 20% is a pretty decent drop in price.

On the upper range, 95 is way too much. If Mike is saving $35 on a shirt that costs less than $100, he is
obviously saving way more than 20%.

That leaves us with either (C) or (D). Ballparking won’t always help you get the answer, but it is a very
effective way of eliminating most of the answers.

To figure out whether it is (C) or (D), I am going to show you another trick: plugging in.

All About Plugging In

This question can be solved by a formula. Of course you have to know how to set up the formula (it’s
60 = 7/10​x​). Yes, I already can sense some of you cringing. But that’s the beauty of the SAT—you don’t
need no stinking formulas!

Think of it this way: You already have the answer. It’s one of the five below the question. If you’ve
ballparked—the way we did in the last problem—you can get the number of possible answers down to
two. Let’s take a look again at Mike and his shirt.

Mike saved 20% on a shirt before taxes. If he paid $60 for the shirt, what was the original price of the
shirt?

(C) 75
(D) 80

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One of these is the answer. Which one? Let’s choose (C) and plug it back into the problem. If the shirt
was originally 75 dollars, and he saved 20%, let’s take 20% of 75. You can use your calculator, or you
can use the shortcut.

What’s 10% of 75? 7.50. 20% is twice 10%. So twice 7.50 is 15. So what’s 15 dollars less than 75? 60.
The answer.

If we do the same with answer (D), we get 20% off 80, which is 80 – 16 = 64. Mike did not pay $64 for
the shirt so we know this is not the answer.

And just like that—no boring formulas—we were able to get the answer. See, I told you, SAT Math can
be fun. Just don’t carried away and start scribbling numbers on your bedroom wall!

Backsolving: A Powerful Tool for Multiple Choice Questions

The next strategy we’ll look at is good specifically for multiple choice questions (but not for grid-in
questions. For many multiple choice questions, you can backsolve by plugging the answer choices into
the question and seeing which answer choice works.

Simple, right? Well, yes, it is simple in concept. In practice, though, you may have to “reverse run” the
answer through a few steps of the problem. So to help you understand how backsolving can work,
we’ll show you an example SAT Math question and walk you through the backsolving process for the
answers.

David is paid $32 per hour to design a webpage. Upon finishing the webpage, he is given an extra
$80. Max is paid $38 an hour to design a webpage and upon completion is given an extra given $50.
If both David and Max are paid the same amount for designing a webpage, how many hours does
each spend designing a webpage?

A) 2 hours
B) 5 hours
C) 8 hours
D) 12 hours

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There are a few things you can notice, subtle “tells” that this SAT Math problem is an excellent
candidate for backsolving. First of all, this problem isn’t complicated by SAT Math standards.

Don’t get me wrong; it wouldn’t be fair to describe this question as a ​simple​ one. However, this
question isn’t on the “very hard” end of the SAT’s multiple choice math problems. There is just one
answer for both variables (David’s working hours and Max’s working hours). And the “solve” for this is
clearly linear algebra, rather than the harder algebra that the College Board would file under “Passport
to Advanced Math.”

This means that backsolving could be reasonably easy, and the most reliable and efficient way to make
sure you get to the right answer. So let’s give it a try!

We’ll start checking the answers. Once the numbers match up, that’s the correct choice. To start, let’s
put answer ​(A) 2​ back into the question:

(32)(2) + 80 = (38)(2) + 50
144 = 126

However, that is clearly not true, since 144 does ​not​ equal 126.

Putting ​(B) 5​ into the question, we get:

(32)(5) + 80 = (38)(5) + 50
240 = 240

Therefore, (B) is the answer.

While this might seem like a time-consuming problem, it depends on which section you see this
problem in. If you see it on the Calculator section, you can whip through the answer choices pretty
quickly.

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Even if this question were to show up on the No Calculator section, you would only have to do the
math for three of the four answers. If the math in the first three answer choices doesn’t match up, then
the last one is the answer.

So how can you know if backsolving really is the best approach on a given problem? Well, there are
clues. But a little trial and error during practice can really help you become more intuitive about when
you should break out the backsolving. For the top SAT Math score you’re hoping for, play around with
backsolving during your practice sets to get a feel for when and how to use this technique.

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SAT Math Comprehension Skills

Often in SAT prep, the word “comprehension” is associated mostly with the reading section. But
comprehending SAT Math also takes some skill. The tricky part here is that the rules and skills for SAT
Math comprehension are a little different than they would be for SAT Reading. This is true even with
word problems.

Read on for a tutorial on the skills you’ll need to understand and properly answer SAT Math questions.
These skills are especially important in multiple choice questions, so many of the explanations and
examples we’ll give will focus on that question format. With that said, don’t be afraid to also apply these
fundamental skills to the grid-in problems that appear at the end of both sections of SAT Math.

Interpreting Information and Understanding Vocabulary

On SAT Math, comprehension of information and vocabulary go hand-in-hand when it comes to
problem-solving strategy. In fact, data interpretation and vocabulary use are so closely related that you
can often use them together on the same problem. Let’s look at one example SAT Math question
below:

Which of the following graphs best shows a weak positive association between ​x​ and ​y​?
A) B)

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C) D)

The correct answer choice above is ​(D)​. In order to know that, you need to know the meaning of the
vocabulary phrase "weak positive association." In this math context, an “association” is a relationship
between two variables in terms of how they intersect with each other at different points on a graph.

“Positive” refers to an association where when one variable increases the other also does, so that the
intersecting points between the variables move upward on a ​xy​-plane. “Weak” means that there are a
number of coordinates that don’t follow the upward pattern very closely, so that the scatterplot will
resemble a broad cluster of points going upward on the axes, not a thin, straight upward line between
x​ and ​y​.

Knowing the meaning of weak positive association can help you get to ​(D)​ as the correct answer.
However, it takes more than just vocabulary knowledge to answer a question like this correctly on the
SAT. You also need real fluency in reading information, so that you can identify what you’re looking at
quickly with little risk of mistake. This means you must be proficient at reading tables, charts, graphs,
and, in the case of this style of SAT Math problem, scatterplots.

For this particular problem, you must be very good at visually differentiating between ​strong positive
(A)​, ​weak negative​ ​(B)​, ​no correlation​ ​(C)​, and ​weak positive​ ​(D)​. If you’re not able to read scatterplots
quickly and accurately, you could still miss the correct answer even if you understood the vocabulary.

Next, let’s take a quick look at some common vocabulary in word problems. Often, a word or phrase in
an SAT story problem can be a “tell,” easily giving you the kind of math operation you need to use.

For example, the word “is” or “are” is the same thing as an equal sign. So if a word problem says
something like “Larry’s salary is half of Rhonda’s salary,” you can know that Larry’s salary ​equals​ half of

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 1
Rhonda’s salary, and write an expression such as ​L​ = ( 2 ) × R​ .

Next, let’s talk about “of.” In SAT Math word problems, “of” indicates that you should multiply. That’s
why, in the previous paragraph, I turned the words “half of Rhonda’s salary” into ½ times R.

There are phrases that represent addition and subtraction too, usually “​more than​” or “​less than​.” If a
​ ore​ fish ​than​ Tank B,” this translates into the expression ​A​ = ​B​ +
story problem says “Tank A has 20 m
20, or perhaps ​B​ = ​A​ – 20. Similarly, if you read something like “Sally weighs 25 pounds ​less than
John,” you either get the expression ​ S = J – 25, or ​J = S + 25. (Similar phrases such as “fewer
than,” “heavier than,” and so on also mark addition and subtraction.)

Of course, figuring out what a phrase in a story problem means also involves a lot of common sense
and of context. The words and phrases I’ve shown you above are definitely not a complete list of the
meaningful, useful story problem language. But knowing those words is a good start. And what’s most
important is that you know there are ​always​ specific words and phrases that are stand is for math
symbols and operations. This realization makes it much easier to decipher story problems in SAT Math.

By knowing the relevant vocabulary and understanding the data given in a problem, you can always
eliminate the answers that aren’t reflected in the data or don’t match the meaning of the key words.
Vocabulary and data skills are especially important in the section of SAT Math that allows you to use a
calculator. Very often, Calculator section problems will trick you into focusing on the calculation
process when in fact the problem can be solved much more quickly with simple comprehension
strategies.

Ultimately, a strategic focus on information and math vocabulary can serve you well in both math
sections on the SAT. Understanding the processes and logic behind math is also quite important
across the two SAT Math sections. Next, we’ll look at multiple choice strategies that rely on math
processes and mathematical logic.

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Introduction to Processes and Logic
The language of the SAT Math section is, above all, the language of processes and logic. So you
should work to know the processes and logic behind the solutions to SAT Math questions. And you
should know how to apply that knowledge, picking up on hints in the math problems that tell you which
processes are at play, and how logic can get you to the answer.

So what processes do you use, and how should you apply logic? Needless to say, this can vary from
question to question. But there are also some general differences between processes and logic when
a calculator is (or could be) involved. So below, we'll walk you through processes and logic in a typical
No Calculator problem, and processes and logic in a typical Calculator one.

Processes and Logic on the No Calculator Section

Correctly following processes and logical patterns is especially important in section three of the SAT,
the section entitled “Math Test—No Calculator.” The calculator-free questions are designed to test your
ability to think through operations, completing specific steps. Very often the wrong answer choices are
the result of skipping a step, applying the wrong operation, or failing to recognize a numerical pattern.
Let’s look at an example No Calculator multiple choice question, selecting the right answer with
strategic use of processes and logic.

c d
If d = 2, then what is the value of 10( c )?

A) 10
B) 5
C) 0
D) 1

This is a great question, because if you know both the way numbers function in fractions (mathematical
patterns) and know how to plug the numbers in to the equations (mathematical processes), you can
quickly weed out the wrong answers and detect the right ones.

Let’s first apply mathematical logic to this problem. Immediately, you can rule out answer ​(C)​. The only
c
way the third answer choice could be correct would be if ​d​ equaled zero and if ​d ​= 0, then d ​can’t

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equal 6. It can’t equal ​anything​, because you can’t divide by 0. ​c ​over zero, or ​any​ number over zero,
would be undefined.

So answer ​(C)​ can be eliminated purely through logic. You can check the rest of the answers through a
combination of mathematical logic and the application of problem-solving steps. The first thing you’ll
want to do as you scrutinize the other answers is to solve for ​d​. This is easy if you understand the
relationship, the logical pattern that connects whole numbers to fractions. Remember, any whole
number can be expressed as a fraction, by making the original whole number into the ​numerator​ (the
3
top number in the fraction) and putting in a ​denominator​ (the bottom part of the fraction) of 1. So 3 = 1 ,
200
200 = 1 , and so on.

c c
​ lso equals 2/1, the fraction expression of the whole number 2. So ​d
Logically then, if d = 2, then​ d a

on its own must logically equal 1 and ​c​ must equal 2. From there, you plug in the values of ​c​ and ​d​ to
solve for 10​d​ over ​c​.

d 1
10( c ) ​= 10( 2 )
1 10
10( 2 ) = 2
10
2 =5

So with this simple three-step process (which you should be able to do in your head), you can tell that
d
the correct answer is ​(D)​ 5. To get answers of 10 or 1 from ​10( c )​, you’d need different values than (2, 1)

for (​d, c​).

Now this problem is relatively simple, as SAT Math problems go. You could probably find the right
answer just by using logic to solve for ​d​ and ​c​, and then plugging the numbers in; eliminating the
answer of 0 by using broader math logic is not an essential step in this case.

Eliminating mathematically illogical answer choices like ​(A)​ above is a much more crucial step in
complex story problems. If you haven’t already been given an equation and you need to derive the
right equation from the data before solving the problem, always check for mathematically impossible

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answers first. Sometimes, this can eliminate all but two answers or even bring you down to just one
answer, saving you lots of time and hassle.

Processes and Logic on the Calculator Section

In the Section 4 of the SAT, the section headed “Math Test—Calculator,” process and logic take on
special importance. Although the SAT allows you to use a calculator in this final section, calculator use
is often a trap. The SAT loves to trick you into assuming a problem is more complex than it is, because
unnecessary calculator use can cause you take overthink, waste precious test time, and make mistakes
in your steps and operations.

So it’s very important to really think about the logic and steps required to get the right answer. Do NOT
let the test lure you into having the calculator do the thinking for you, because calculators ​can’t​ think.
They can only do the operations you key in and you don’t want to unthinkingly key in an incorrect math
sign or unnecessary step.

Take this example question:

1 decameter = 10 meters
1,000 centimeters = 1 meter

A group of interior designers has been asked to line the edges of a large rectangular room with
marble tile trim. The tiles must all touch each other, and each tile is 1 centimeter wide. If one side of the
room is 3.5 decameters long, how many 1-centimeter tiles must be used for the trim on that side of the
room?

A) 00035
B) 3,500
C) 10,003.5
D) 35,000

To get the correct answer, you need to first figure out how many centimeters there are in a decameter,
and then multiply that figure by 3.5, the number of decameters given in the problem. The basic

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operation goes as follows: 1,000 × 10 × 3.5. This can easily be simplified to 10,000 × 3.5, or 35,000. So
the correct answer is ​(D)​.

Note that all of the incorrect answers are potential results of calculator misuse. ​(A)​ is what you get if
you accidentally divide 3.5 by 10,000 instead of multiplying. ​(B)​ is the result of multiplying by 1,000
instead of 10,000, something that can easily happen if you accidentally don’t key in enough zeroes on
the calculator. ​(C)​ is what you get if you accidentally add 3.5 to 10,000 instead of multiplying it by
10,000.

It’s easy to hit the wrong key if you use your calculator, and also easy to hastily enter the wrong result
before rushing on to the next question in this timed exam. To select the right multiple choice answer,
you need to really ​think​ about the process of solving the problem, and the logic of the answers.
Answer ​(A)​ above is an especially illogical mistake. Accidentally hitting the division key when you
meant to hit “multiply” is easy enough. It’s just as easy to realize there’s no way a tiny fraction of a tile
would cover an entire side of a room!

So don’t use your calculator blindly, and strange as this sounds for the Calculator section, don’t use
your calculator at all if you don’t have to. Calculator use will trip you up and waste precious time on
many of the multiple choice questions in this section. Rely on a calculator only for truly hard problems
and for double-checking mentally calculated answers, if you have the time to do so.

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SAT Math Formulas and Patterns
Many of these formulas will actually be given to you in your SAT test. With that said, if your eyes on are
the “800” prize, you should work to master all SAT Math formulas, even ones you’ll have access to
during the test. There is, after all, a lot more to knowing a formula than merely having access to it.

Formulas for Two-Dimensional Geometry

Quadrilaterals

Perimeter of a rectangle 2​l​ + 2​w​ (where l​ ​ is the length and ​w​ is the width)

Area of a rectangle lw ​(length × width)

Triangles

1 1
Area of a triangle 2 bh​ ( 2 × base × height)

Circles

Area of a circle π​r2​ ​(where ​r​ is the radius of the circle)

Circumference of a circle 2​π​r

Equation of a circle (​x​ – ​h​)2​​ + (​y​ – ​k​)2​​ = r​ 2​​ (where the center of the circle is (​h,k​))

Area of a sector (degree of the angle/360) × π​r2​

Arc length (degree of the sector angle/360) × 2​πr​

Pythagorean Theorem

a2​​ + ​b2​​ = ​c2​

(where ​a​ and ​b​ are the lengths of the sides that form the right angle, and ​c​ is the hypotenuse)

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Formulas for Three-Dimensional Geometry
Volumes

1
Volume of a cone V​ = 3 π​r2​​ h

Volume of a cylinder ​ ​r2​​ h

V​ = π
1
Volume of a pyramid V​ = 3 bh​ (where b
​ ​ = base area and ​h​ = height)

Volume of a box V​ = l​ wh​ (length × width × height)

4
Volume of a sphere V​ = 3 π​r3​

Other Rectangular Solid Formulas

Surface area of a rectangular solid 2​lw​ + 2​wh​ + 2​lh

Diagonal in a rectangular solid Apply the Pythagorean theorem twice, or ​l2​​ + ​w2​​ + ​h2​​ = ​d2​

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Formulas for Coordinate Geometry and Linear Equations
Lines

Slope intercept form y​ = ​mx​ + ​b​ (where m

​ ​ is the slope and ​b​ is the y​ ​-intercept)

Slope

given two points (​x​1 ,​ ​y​1​) and (​x​2 ,​ ​y​2​)

Trigonometry formulas

sin ​x​ = opposite/hypotenuse

SOHCAHTOA cos ​x​ = adjacent/hypotenuse
tan ​x​ = opposite/adjacent

Tangent identity

Pythagorean identity

Reciprocal identities

You should also know your quadrants and where sine, cosine, and tangent are positive or negative:

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Statistics and Probability Formulas
Average

S / T (Average = Sum / Number of Things)

It’s also good to think of it as Sum = Average × Number of Things, as the test will often give you the
average and not the sum.

Probability

Number of desired outcomes / number of total outcomes

Probability (Probability = number of events that fit the criteria / total number of
events)

To find the factorial of any integer, multiple it by every positive

integer below it.
Factorials (e.g., 8!)
Example: 8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1

a × b​ [ × c × d​…]

If there are ​a​ ways for one activity to occur and ​b​ ways for a second
Fundamental counting activity to occur, then there are ​a × b​ ways for both to occur.
principle

Example: Think about when Bob has 4 shirts, 3 pants, and 2 jackets.
How many outfits can he make? 4 × 3 × 2 = 24 outfits

Sequence Formulas

Arithmetic sequences t​n​ = ​t​1​ + ​d​ (​n​ – 1)

Geometric sequences t​n​ = ​t​1 × rn​ ​− 1

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Other Numerical Patterns
Order of Operations

The associative property (​a​ + ​b​) = ​c​ = ​a​ + (​b​ + ​c)​

The distributive property a × (​b ​– ​c​) = ​ab ​– ​ac

Factoring out (the distributive property in reverse) ab ​– ​ac​ = ​a × (​b ​– ​c​)

Adding Fractions

Exponents

xa​ ​ × xb​ ​ =​ ​x4(​​ a ​+ ​b​)

Combining exponents (​xa​ ​ /​​ x​ b​ ​ )​ = ​x(​​ a ​+ ​b​)
(x​a​)​b​ =​ ​x(​​ ab​)

1 raised to any power is 1.

1 and 0 as bases for 0 raised to any nonzero power is 0.
Any nonzero number to the power of 0 is 1.
exponents

Example: (7​0​)​ =​ 1
1
(​x 2 )​ =​ √x

1
Fractions as exponents Similarly, for ​x​ to the power of 3 you’d get the cubed root of ​x​.
1
For ​x​ to the power of 4 you’d get ∜​x.
1
For ​x​ to the power of 5 you'd get you ​x​ root 5, and so on.

Negative exponents (​x−​​ y​)​ =​ (1/​xy​ ​)

Negative bases for With an even exponent: positive result

exponents With an odd exponent: negative result

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Roots

To estimate square roots of numbers that aren’t perfect squares, just

Estimating roots examine the nearby perfect squares. For example, to find √50 , you
know that √49 = 7 and √64 = 8, so √50 must be between 7 and 8.

√n a number that, when cubed, equals ​n​.

3

Cube roots
3
Example: √− 8 = −2

Separate the number into its prime factors, and take out matching
pairs.

Example:
Simplifying roots

Roots can be added like variables.

Adding roots
Example: 2√7 + 9√7 = 11√7

Prime Numbers and Integers

1 is not a prime.
2 is the smallest prime and the only even prime.
An integer is any counting number, including negative numbers (–3, –1, 2, 7…but not 2.5).

Ratios

Ratios let us compare the proportions of two quantities.

If there is a 2 : 5 ratio of boys to girls at a school, that means that for every 5 girls, there are 2 boys.
So there could be 2 boys and 5 girls, 20 boys and 50 girls, 200 boys and 500 girls, etc.

x
Ratios are given by ​x : y​, ​x​ to ​y​, or y . If a question says “for every ​x​ there is/are a ​y​,” you are most
likely dealing with a ratio question. Ratios can also be ​x : y : z​.

Ratios can be simplified like fractions. 3 : 6 is the same as 1 : 2.

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 Remember that if there is a 2 : 5 ratio of boys to girls at a school, the ratio of boys to total students is
2
2 : (5 + 2) = 2 : 7. So 7 of the students are boys.

Percentages

The meaning of “percent”

Calculating percentages

Percent change

Divisibility Rules for Single-Digit Numbers

3 : sum of digits divisible by 3

4 : the last two digits of number are divisible by 4
5 : the last digit is either a 5 or zero
6 : even number and sum of digits is divisible by 3
8 : if the last three digits are divisible by 8
9 : sum of digits is divisible by 9

Algebra Patterns

First, Outer, Inner, Last:

(​x​ + 2)(​x ​+ 7) = ​x​*​x​ + 7​x​ + 2​x​ + 2*7 = ​x2​ +​ 9​x​ + 14

Common FOIL patterns to memorize:

FOIL (​a​ + ​b​)2​​ = ​a2​ +​ 2​ab​ + ​b2​

​
(​a​ – ​b​)2​​ = ​a2​​ – 2​ab​ + ​b2​

​
a2​ – ​b2​ =​ (​a ​+ ​b​)(​a​ –
​
​b​)

Cross-multiplication

For ​ax2​ +​ ​bx​ + ​c​, where ​a​ is not 0, if you can factor it to (​x​ + ​y​)(​x​ –
​
​z​),
Quadratic equations ​
then the solutions are​ –​y​ and ​z​.

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 Example:
​
x2​ – 7​x​ = –10
​
x2​ – 7​x​ + 10 = 0
​ ​
(​x​ – 2)(​x​ – 5) = 0
x​ = 2 or ​x​ = 5

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20 Key Math Areas, 20 SAT Practice Problems
The College Board lists four categories of SAT Math problems, and 20 types of academic content
within those four categories, as follows:

● Heart of Algebra: ​linear equations, linear functions, systems of linear equations, inequalities
● Problem Solving and Data Analysis: ​ratios, proportions, percentages, units, quantitative data,
probability
● Passport to Advanced Math: ​equivalent algebraic expressions, quadratic equations,
exponential functions, other nonlinear equations and functions (including expressions for lines
on the coordinate plane)
● Additional Topics in Math: ​basic trig, geometry of area, geometry of volume, geometry of lines,
geometry of angles, geometry of shapes

To truly master all of these SAT Math categories and academic concepts, you need to practice all of
the areas below extensively, using practice sets such as the ones from ​Magoosh SAT​ or the official
SAT website. (And remember, ​Magoosh SAT​ also has video lessons on all of these math topics!)

But before you dive into the deeper end of the SAT Math practice pool, these questions are a great
way to dip your toes in the water, and get a feel for your strengths and weaknesses. From there, you
can build on those strengths and work on those weaknesses. Now, let’s get started! (An answer key
with explanations is available after the end of this section.)

One final note: We have deliberately chosen ​not​ to distinguish between Calculator and No Calculator
math problems in this practice set. As mentioned earlier in this eBook, you should try to avoid
calculator use as much as possible no matter which SAT Math section you’re in. Apply that rule to all of
the problems below, across the board.

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Heart of Algebra Practice Questions
PRACTICE PROBLEM 1: LINEAR EQUATIONS
If 6​x​ = 42 and ​xk​ = 2, what is the value of ​k​?
2
A) 7
1
B) – 7

C) 7
1
D) 7

PRACTICE PROBLEM 2: LINEAR FUNCTIONS

f(x)​ = √x – 1, and ​g(x)​ = ​x2​​ – ​n.​ If ​f(g​(3)​)​ = 3, what is the value of ​g(n)​?
A) –7
B) –1
C) 16
D) 56

PRACTICE PROBLEM 3: SYSTEM OF LINEAR EQUATIONS

In the system of equations below, what is the value of ​x​ + ​y​?

2​x​ – 1 = 4(​y ​ + 2)
x​ + 4​y​ = 6
1
A) 4
19
B) 4
21
C) 4
D) 5

PRACTICE PROBLEM 4: INEQUALITIES

2​x​ – 3(​x​ – 6) ≤ 28 + 4​x
What is the solution for the inequality?
46 36
A) 5 ≤ ​x C) 5 ≤ ​x
10
B) – 3 ≤ ​x D) –2 ≤ ​x

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Problem Solving and Data Analysis Practice Questions
PRACTICE PROBLEM 5: RATIOS
The ratio of shirts to shorts to pairs of shoes in Kevin’s closet is 5 : 2 : 3. If Kevin owns 10 shirts, how
many pairs of shoes does he have to give away so that he ends up having the same number of shorts
as he does pairs of shoes?
A) 1
B) 2
C) 4
D) 5

PRACTICE PROBLEM 6: PROPORTIONS

7
A cartographer owns a square map in which one inch corresponds to 3 of a mile. What is the area of

the map in square inches if the map covers a territory of 49 square miles?

Answer: ____________________

PRACTICE PROBLEM 7: PERCENTAGES

Matt and two of his cousins ordered a plate of 24 buffalo wings at a restaurant. Matt ate ​x​ wings, while
his cousin Laura ate half as many. If Matt’s cousin Alli ate four times as many wings as Laura, and the
three together finished 87.5% of the wings, how many buffalo wings did Laura eat?
A) 3
B) 6
C) 12
D) 18

PRACTICE PROBLEM 8: UNITS OF MEASUREMENT

A hardware store sells rolls of measuring tape in 12.5 meter rolls. Sarah purchases two rolls of
measuring tape. How many millimeters of measuring tape has she purchased in total?

Answer: ____________________

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PRACTICE PROBLEM 9: QUANTITATIVE DATA

Year Number of aquatic organisms

in Dunsville Fishery

2008 4,207

2009 4,546

2010 4,902

What was the approximate increase in the number of aquatic organisms over each of the two years
listed above?
A) 4%
B) 5%
C) 7.5%
D) 10%

PRACTICE PROBLEM 10: PROBABILITY

A six-sided die is thrown three times. What is the probability that on all three rolls a prime number will
never come up?

Answer: ____________________

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Passport to Advanced Math Practice Questions
PRACTICE PROBLEM 11: EQUIVALENT ALGEBRAIC EXPRESSIONS
​
Which of the following is equivalent to 9​a8​ – 4​a4​​ ?
​
A) a4​​ (9​a4​ – 4​a​)​a4​
​
B) (3​a4​ – 2​a4​​ )(3​a4​ +​ 2​a4​​ )
​
C) (3​a4​ – 2​a2​​ )(3​a4​ +​ 2​a2​​ )
D) a4​​ (3​a​ – 2)(3​a​ + 2)

PRACTICE PROBLEM 12: QUADRATIC EQUATIONS

​
Which of the following is a root of the equation 2​x2​ – 20​x​ = 48?
A) –4
B) 2
C) 6
D) 12

PRACTICE PROBLEM 13: EXPONENTIAL FUNCTIONS

If ​xy​ ​ < 0, then which of the following must be true?
I. ​y​ < 0
II. ​y​ is odd
III. ​xy​ is negative

A) I only
B) II only
C) II and III
D) None of the above

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PRACTICE PROBLEM 14: OTHER NONLINEAR EQUATIONS AND FUNCTIONS
Note: This problem comes from ​Magoosh’s free SAT practice test​.

Consider the 4th-degree polynomial function graphed in the standard ​(x, y)​ coordinate plane above.
The function has a local maximum at ​d​, local minimums at bands ​b​ and ​f​, and ​x​-intercepts at ​a​, ​c​, ​e​, and
g​. On what interval(s) of ​x​ is the function increasing?
A) From negative infinity to positive infinity
B) From negative infinity to ​b​ and ​d​ to ​f
C) From negative infinity to ​a​, between ​c​ and ​e​, and ​g​ to positive infinity
D) From ​b​ to ​d​ and ​f​ to positive infinity

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Additional Topics in Math Practice Questions
PRACTICE PROBLEM 15: BASIC TRIGONOMETRY
For right triangle ​XYZ​ shown below, which of the following expressions has a value that is equal to sin
X​?

A) sin ​Y
B) cos ​X
C) cos ​Y
D) tan ​Y

PRACTICE PROBLEM 16: GEOMETRY OF AREA

If the circle with center ​O​ has area 9​π​, what is the area of equilateral triangle ​ABC​?

A) 9 √3
B) 18
C) 12 √3
D) 24

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PRACTICE PROBLEM 17: GEOMETRY OF VOLUME
The figure above shows a three dimensional object comprised of a cylinder with a radius of 4 feet and
a height of 5 feet, topped by a cone with a radius of 4 feet and a height of 3 feet. What is the total
volume of this object?

A) 16​π
B) 48​π
C) 96​π
D) 144​π

PRACTICE PROBLEM 18: GEOMETRY OF LINES

Triangle ​ADG​ has an area of 6 square units. If ​AD​ = ​AF​ = 3, then what is the length of ​EF​?

Answer: ____________________

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PRACTICE PROBLEM 19: GEOMETRY OF ANGLES
In the figure below, lines ​d​ and ​f​ are parallel and the angle measures are as given. What is the value of
x​?

A) 35
B) 60
C) 85
D) 100

PRACTICE PROBLEM 20: GEOMETRY OF SHAPES

The length of Rectangle ​WXYZ​ is increased 20% and the width is decreased 20%. The area of the
resulting figure is what percent of Rectangle ​WXYZ​?
A) 4%
B) 96%
C) 120%
D) Cannot be determined from the information given.

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Answer Key and Explanations

How to Use These Answer Explanations

Many SAT Math practice resources, including ​Magoosh SAT​, include answer explanations for the
wrong answers as well as the right ones. In this way, you are directly told how the designers of the
questions tried to lure you with incorrect-yet-tempting answers. This is not a bad thing. But for the
ambitious student who is aiming for an 800 in SAT math, we’ve decided to do a little less
“hand-holding” in terms of answer explanations.

For the answer explanations below, we’ve focused almost entirely on the steps and processes for
getting the correct answer. In a few instances, we couldn’t resist also telling you how certain other
answers are designed to trap test-takers. But for the most part, try to carefully look at the wrong
answer choices and figure that out for yourself.

As you study the answer choices yourself, you will notice that many wrong answers come directly from
stopping a step or two too early, before the whole problem is solved. Other wrong answer choices are
based on common missteps, such as using the wrong operation: multiplication instead of division,
subtraction instead of adding, etc. And there are additional dirty tricks hidden in the wrong choices as
well.

What’s important here is that you, as an ambitious SAT Math 800 candidate, put in the effort to spot
these multiple choice traps yourself. To be the very best, you have to work hard to get inside the head
of the question designers. This will allow you to build truly strong SAT Math strategies, while also
reviewing the math concepts required to calculate the answers correctly.

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Answer Explanations

PRACTICE PROBLEM 1: LINEAR EQUATIONS

If 6​x​ = 42 and ​xk​ = 2, what is the value of ​k​?
2
A) 7
1
B) – 7

C) 7
1
D) 7

Explanation:
Let’s take a look at both equations and think about it for a second. In the first equation, there is only
one variable, and it is raised to the power of 1. Since there is more than one variable in the second
equation (​x​ and ​k​), we can’t know for sure what ​k​ is unless we solve for ​x​ first.

We should go ahead and solve the first equation for ​x​ before moving on to the next equation. In order
to isolate the variable on one side, we need to divide both sides by 6. That yields ​x​ = 7.

Now we can plug in ​x​ = 7 into the second equation. This gives us 7​k​ = 2. In order to isolate the ​k​ on one
2
side, divide both sides by 7. This leaves us with ​k​ = 7 .

Answer: A

PRACTICE PROBLEM 2: LINEAR FUNCTIONS

f(x)​ = √x – 1, and ​g(x)​ = ​x2​​ – ​n.​ If ​f(g​(3)​)​ = 3, what is the value of ​g(n)​?
A) –7
B) –1
C) 16
D) 56

Explanation:
This question is tricky because it has so many steps. But if you carefully do one step at a time, the path
to the answer is quite manageable.

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Let’s first figure out what ​x​ is. To do this, remember that in this problem, ​f(x)​ and ​f(g​(3)​)​ are equivalent
expressions. So, if ​f(x)​ = √x – 1 and ​f(g​(3)​)​ = 3, then √x – 1 = 3. This means that ​x​ must equal 16. After all,
the square root of 16 is 4, so √16 – 1 = 4 – 1 = 3. Now that we have an ​x​ value of 16 to go with ​f(x)​ = 3,
let’s plug that in, so we get: ​f(​16​)​ = 3.

Next, we need to turn ​g(x)​ = ​x2​​ – ​n​ into an equation that allows us to solve for ​n​. We’ve established that
f(x)​ = ​f(​16​)​. We’ve also established that ​f(x)​ is the same thing as ​f(g​(3)​)​. In other words, the ​x​ in ​f(x)​ could
be expressed as 16, or as ​g​(3). Therefore, in ​g(x)​, the ​x​ = 3 and ​g​(3) = 16. To put this into equation form:
​ ​ = 16. From there, we plug 3 into the equation for ​x​, we get: ​g​(3) = 3​2 –
g(x)​ = ​x−n ​
​n​ = 9 – ​n​ = 16.

Now that we have ​g​(3) = 9 – ​n​ = 16, we can solve for ​n​. The value for ​n​ must be –7, because 9 minus
negative 7, a.k.a. 9 – (–7), a.k.a. 9 + 7 equals 16. Here, many test-takers would make the mistake of
​
stopping, and choosing answer choice A. But not so fast! In the equation ​g(x)​ = ​x2​ – ​n​, –7 is the value
​
for ​n​. But it is NOT the value for ​g(n)​. To get the value for ​g(n)​, we need to take ​g(x)​ = ​x2​ – ​n​ and replace
every ​x​ with the –7 value for ​n​. (While also replacing the original ​n​ with –7 as well!) The final steps for
the solution look like this:

​
g(x)​ = ​x2​ – ​n
g(n)​ = ​n2​​ – ​n
g​(–7) = –7​2​ – (–7)
g​(–7) = 49 – (–7)
g​(–7) = 49 + 7
g​(–7) = 56

Answer: D

PRACTICE PROBLEM 3: SYSTEM OF LINEAR EQUATIONS

In the system of equations below, what is the value of ​x​ + ​y​?
2​x​ – 7 = 4(​y ​+ 2)
x​ + 4​y​ = 6
1
A) 4

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 19
B) 4
21
C) 4
D) 5

Explanation:
We want to make sure, when solving for ​x​ and ​y​ in an equation that has two variables, that ​x​ and ​y​ are
on the same side of the equation. Then, we multiply either the top or the bottom by a number that will
allow us to isolate for either ​x​ or ​y​. We then solve for that variable and plug that value back into one of
the two equations to find the value of the second variable.

2​x​ – 1 = 4​y​ + 8

This can be simplified to 2​x​ – 4​y​ = 9.

Adding the second equation underneath we get

2​x​ – 4​y​ = 9
x​ + 4​y​ = 6

Adding the two equations vertically, we get

3​x​ = 15
x​ = 5

Plugging ​x​ back in:

5 + 4​y​ = 6
4​y​ = 1
1
y​ = 4
21
x​ + ​y​ = 4

Answer: C

PRACTICE PROBLEM 4: INEQUALITIES

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 2​x​ – 3(​x​ – 6) ≤ 28 + 4​x
What is the solution for the inequality?
46
A) 5 ≤ ​x
10
B) – 3 ≤ ​x
36
C) 5 ≤ ​x
D) –2 ≤ ​x

Explanation:
This is a pretty straightforward inequality question. The trick is to do the correct algebraic operations.
Here are the steps that get you to the right answer:

Step 1:​ 2​x​ – 3(​x​ – 6) ≤ 28 + 4​x​ (original inequality)

Step 2:​ 2​x ​– 3​x​ + 18 ≤ 28 + 4​x​ (distributive property)

Step 3:​ –​x​ + 18 ≤ 28 + 4​x​ (simplify)

Step 4:​ 18 ≤ 28 + 5​x​ (added ​x​ to both sides)

Step 5:​ –10 ≤ 5​x​ (subtract 28 from both sides)

Step 6:​ –2 ≤ ​x​ (divide both sides by 5)

Answer: D

PRACTICE PROBLEM 5: RATIOS

The ratio of shirts to shorts to pairs of shoes in Kevin’s closet is 5 : 2 : 3. If Kevin owns 10 shirts, how
many pairs of shoes does he have to give away so that he ends up having the same number of shorts
as he does pairs of shoes?
A) 1
B) 2

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C) 4
D) 5

Explanation:
Okay, this question is slightly evil, since shorts sounds like shirts and it is easy to get the two mixed up
when you are reading fast. So always pay attention, even on easier questions!

Since we know that Kevin has 10 shirts, and that 10 therefore corresponds to the number ‘5’ in the ratio,
that the actual number of shorts, shirts, etc., he owns is double the number in the ratio. Thus, he owns
four shirts and six pairs of shoes. So he’ll have to give away two pairs of shoes so that he’ll have the
same number of shoes as he does shorts.

Answer: B

PRACTICE PROBLEM 6: PROPORTIONS

7
A cartographer owns a square map in which one inch corresponds to 3 of a mile. What is the area of

the map in square inches if the map covers a territory of 49 square miles?

Explanation:
7
We know that 3 of a mile = one inch.

We also know that the area is 49 square miles, meaning that each side = 7 ( √49 = 7). To find how many
inches correspond to 7 miles, we set up the following equation:

7
7 = 3 x​, ​x​ = 3

Here is the little twist that you want to watch out for. The question is asking for square miles in inches,
so we have to take 3​2​, which equals 9.

Answer: 9

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PRACTICE PROBLEM 7: PERCENTAGES
Matt and two of his cousins ordered a plate of 24 buffalo wings at a restaurant. Matt ate ​x​ wings, while
his cousin Laura ate half as many. If Matt’s cousin Alli ate four times as many wings as Laura, and the
three together finished 87.5% of the wings, how many buffalo wings did Laura eat?
A) 3
B) 6
C) 12
D) 18

Explanation:
The first thing to do here is change that word problem into an algebraic expression.

But let’s make sure that equation is clear. On the left, we have the fraction of wings eaten. ​x​ + 0.5​x ​+ 2​x
represents the number that Matt and his cousins went through. ​x​ is Matt’s share, 0.5​x​ (equal to half) is
Laura’s share, and 2​x​ is what wing-lover Alli picked clean (since 0.5​x × 4 = 2​x)​ . Divide that by the total
number, and multiply by 100, and we’ve followed the percentage formula.

Then, it’s just a matter of isolating ​x.​

Answer: B

PRACTICE PROBLEM 8: UNITS OF MEASUREMENT

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A hardware store sells rolls of measuring tape in 12.5 meter rolls. Sarah purchases two rolls of
measuring tape. How many millimeters of measuring tape has she purchased in total?

Explanation:
First, note that while the SAT will often give you the conversions of different measurements, such as
milliliters/liters or yards/meters, there are to sets of conversions you are simply expected to know. One
of them is inches to feet. The other “should know” conversion is millimeters to centimeters to meters,
as seen in this problem.

As you hopefully already know:

1 meter = 100 centimeters
1 centimeter = 10 millimeters

Armed with that knowledge, this problem becomes pretty easy to solve. First, you calculate the total
number of meters of measuring tape. There are 2 rolls, each of which has 12.5 meters of tape. 2 × 12.5 =
25 meters.

Next, convert 25 meters to centimeters:

25 × 100 = 2,500

Finally, convert 2,500 centimeters to millimeters:

2,500 × 10 = 25,000

Answer: 25,000

PRACTICE PROBLEM 9: QUANTITATIVE DATA

Year Number of aquatic organisms

in Dunsville Fishery

2008 4,207

2009 4,546

2010 4,902

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What was the approximate increase in the number of aquatic organisms over each of the two years
listed above?
A) 4%
B) 5%
C) 7.5%
D) 10%

Explanation:
Notice the word “approximate.” Therefore, we can think of the numbers as 4,200, 4550, and 4,900.
The difference between each is 350. Finding the percent increase for either year is going to be about
the same. 350/4550 is approximately 7.5%. Notice you could just “shave off” the numbers at the end,
since we are going for an approximation: 3/45 = 1/15 equals about 7%, coming closer to the correct
answer than any other choice.

Answer: C

PRACTICE PROBLEM 10: PROBABILITY

A six-sided die is thrown three times. What is the probability that on all three rolls a prime number will
never come up?

Explanation:
First off, there are three prime numbers on a six-sided die: 2, 3, and 5. What is the probability of NOT
1
rolling one of these three numbers? 2 , since rolling a 1, 4, or 6 would count. Now, the probability of
1
rolling an outcome of 2 (or 50%) is much like tossing a coin. In this case, we are tossing the coin, or
1 1 1 1
rolling a die with a ‘1’, ‘4’ or ‘6’, three times: 2 × 2 × 2 = 8 .

1
Answer: 8

PRACTICE PROBLEM 11: EQUIVALENT ALGEBRAIC EXPRESSIONS

Which of the following is equivalent to 9​a8​ ​– 4​a4​​ ?
A) a4​​ (9​a4​ ​– 4​a​)​a4​

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B) (3​a4​ ​– 2​a4​​ )(3​a4​ ​+ 2​a4​​ )
C) (3​a4​ ​– 2​a2​​ )(3​a4​ ​+ 2​a2​​ )
D) a4​​ (3​a​ – 2)(3​a​ + 2)

Explanation:
The key here is realizing that the original equation, 9​a8​ ​– 4​a4​​ , fits the common FOIL pattern ​x2​ ​– ​y2​​ ,
since both ‘9’ and ‘4’ are perfect squares and the exponents are even integers.

As mentioned earlier in this eBook, ​x2​ ​– ​y2​​ is one of the common FOIL patterns to know for SAT Math.
To remind you, ​x2​ ​– ​y2​​ is the final FOILed version of the pattern (​x​ – ​y​)(​x ​+ ​y​). Two answer choices seem
to fit that pattern: (3​a4​ ​– 2​a4​​ )(3​a4​ ​+ 2​a4​​ ) and (3​a4​ ​– 2​a2​​ )(3​a4​ ​+ 2​a2​​ ). Let’s take a closer look at these two
choices:

In the answer choice that reads (3​a4​ ​– 2​a4​​ )(3​a4​ ​+ 2​a4​​ ),

x​ = 3​a4​​ , ​y​ = 2​a4​

In the answer choice that reads (3​a4​ ​– 2​a2​​ )(3​a4​ ​+ 2​a2​​ ),

x​ = 3​a4​​ , ​y​ = 2​a2​

In either case, the ​x​ and ​y​ variables plug in to match the (​x ​– ​y​)(​x ​+ ​y​) pattern we’re looking for.
However, only one of these choices is actually equivalent to 9​a8​ ​– 4​a4​​ . With a little bit of number sense,
you can see which choice is correct: (3​a4​ ​– 2​a2​​ )(3​a4​ ​+ 2​a2​​ ). Here, one 2​a2​ multiplies
​
with the other to get
4​a4​​ . However, in the other choice, we have two instances of 2​a4​​ , which would lead to a 4​a8​​ in the final
equation.

As you can see, 3​a4​​ and 2​a2​​ ultimately plug in perfectly for the ​x​ and ​y​, so that (​x ​– ​y​)(​x ​+ ​y​) =
(3​a4​ ​– 2​a2​​ )(3​a4​ ​+ 2​a2​​ ) = 9​a8​ ​– 4​a4​​ .

You should be able to see which of the two (​x ​– ​y​)(​x ​+ ​y​) patterned answers are correct just by looking
carefully at them. You can check your work by FOILing that answer: multiplying the first, inside, outside,
and last parts of the expression. If you do that, you’ll find that you do indeed get
9​a8​ ​– 4​a4​​ when you start with (3​a4​ ​– 2​a2​​ )(3​a4​ ​+ 2​a2​​ ).

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Answer: C

PRACTICE PROBLEM 12: QUADRATIC EQUATIONS

Which of the following is a root of the equation 2​x2​ ​– 20​x​ = 48?
A) –4
B) 2
C) 6
D) 12

Explanation:
2​x2​ ​– 20​x​ = 48 is a quadratic equation. As such, it will have two different possible roots, two values for
x​. To find these values, you need to first algebraically change this expression to standard quadratic
form, which is ​ax2​​ +/– ​bx​ =/– ​c​ = 0. And you need to make sure that ​x2​​ winds up alone without its
coefficient (2 in the initial expression), so that you can easily change the quadratic into the expression
(​x​ +/– ​A​)(x +/– ​B​)= 0, with ​A​ and ​B​ representing the two possible values for ​x​.

To get started, subtract 48 from both sides:

2​x2​​ – 20​x​ – 48 = 0

Next, you need to simplify the quadratic in such a way that you can isolate ​x2​​ from its coefficient 2.
Since 20 and 48 are both multiples of 2, this is easy. Just factor out a 2:

2(​x2​​ – 10​x​ – 24) = 0

From here, you should be able to recognize that ​x2​ ​– 10​x​ – 24 = 0 is an equivalent version of the
pattern (​x​ +/– ​A​)(x +/– ​B​) = 0. That’s the pattern you want! But how can you tell what the values are for ​A
and ​B​? Fortunately, there’s a neat shortcut for this. Remember that ​x2​ ​– 10​x​ – 24 = 0 matches the
pattern ​ax2​​ +/– ​bx​ =/– ​c​ = 0. Here, the ​a​ value is 1, since ​x2​​ is the same as 1​x2​​ . And when the ​a​ value is 1
in this pattern, the ​A​ and ​B​ in (​x​ +/– ​A​)(x +/– ​B​) = 0 will add up to a sum equal to ​b​ (10 in this case), and
will multiply into a product equal to ​c​ (–24). (In other words, A
​ ​ + ​B​ = 10, and ​AB​ = –24.)

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Now, you’ll need a little trial and error to figure out which values add up to 10 and multiply out to 24.
With a little thought, you should be able to see that –12 and + 2 work for the equation (–12 + 2 = 10, –12
× 2 = –24). This brings you to 2(​x ​– 12)(​x ​+ 2) = 0. 12 – 12 is 0, so 12 is one possible value for ​x​. –2 + 2 is
also 0, so –2 is the other possible value for ​x​. Since –2 is not an answer choice, but 12 is, the answer
here must be 12.

Answer: D

PRACTICE PROBLEM 13: EXPONENTIAL FUNCTIONS

If ​xy​ ​ < 0, then which of the following must be true?
I. ​y​ < 0
II. ​y​ is odd
III. ​xy​ is negative

A) I only
B) II only
C) II and III
D) None of the above

Explanation:
This is an exceptionally hard question, yet the key to figuring out the answer is simple, perhaps
deceptively so. You “only” need to test cases. But you need to think very carefully while you test those
cases, applying the patterns and properties of exponents that you saw earlier in this eBook.

Let’s first test cases for I, where ​y​ < 0. So does ​y​ absolutely need to be a negative number in order for
xy​ ​ to also be a negative number? No, because a negative base for an exponent will result in a negative
number if the exponent is an odd number. Take –2​3​, for example. This equals –8. So I isn’t necessarily
true.

Next, let’s look at II: ​y​ is odd. At first glance it seems like this really must be true, based on the –2​3​ case
we just tested. But wait! The rule is that a negative base with an odd power leads to a negative
number. The rule doesn’t mention anything in particular about the odd power having to be a positive

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number. There are odd negative numbers too. Let’s test a case for this, with –2​−3​. To test this case,
recall the following exponent property:

x−​​ y​ = 1/(​xy​ ​)

So –2​−3​ equals the fraction 1/(–2​3​). And if the denominator of a fraction is negative, then the whole
fraction is negative. With the cases for both –2​3​ and –2​−3​ tested, it’s very tempting to assume that II
must be true if ​xy​ ​ is less than 0.

However, attentive SAT math preppers will realize there is one more case that needs to be tested: the
use of a fraction as an exponent. The question itself never said that the exponent, the value for ​y​, had
to be a whole number.

So let’s test a fraction as an exponent. Fractions are neither odd nor even. So if we can use a fraction,
which is clearly not odd, and still get a negative number for ​xy​ ​, then II is also eliminated as a possible
answer. Before we get started on that, however, recall this exponent property:

1
(​x 2 )​ =​ √x

1
Fractions as exponents Similarly, for ​x​ to the power of 3 you’d get the cubed root of ​x​.
1 4
For ​x​ to the power of 4 you’d get √x .
1
For ​x​ to the power of 5 you'd get ​x​ root 5, and so on.

1
So the easiest fraction exponent to test would be 3 . This will get us the cubed root of a number, and

cubed roots can be negative, since they are the inverse of an odd power. Provided, of course, that the
original number itself is negative. So what we need is a negative number whose cube root is easy to
calculate. –8 is the obvious choice here, since its cubed root is –2.

1
And so, –8 3 = ∛–8 = –2. 13 is a ​y​ value that isn’t odd, yet can still be used in such a way that ​xy​ ​ is

negative. So II is also out as an answer choice.

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Finally, we look at III: ​xy​ is negative. We’ve already come very close to the case we need to test in
order to see that III doesn’t work, actually. Remember how we tested –2​3​ and –2​−3​? Well, next, we can
test the very similar 2​−3​. We can see that 2​−3​ has an ​x​ value of 2 and a ​y​ value of –3, meaning ​xy​ = –6.
1
But 2​−3​ = 8 . That’s a positive value for ​xy​ ​ , not a negative one. So we’ve just disproven statement III

along with statements I and II.

Answer: D

PRACTICE PROBLEM 14: OTHER NONLINEAR EQUATIONS AND FUNCTIONS

Note: This problem comes from ​Magoosh’s free SAT practice test​.

Consider the 4th-degree polynomial function graphed in the standard ​(x, y)​ coordinate plane above.
The function has a local maximum at ​d​, local minimums at bands ​b​ and ​f​, and ​x​-intercepts at ​a​, ​c​, ​e​, and
g​. On what interval(s) of ​x​ is the function increasing?
A) From negative infinity to positive infinity
B) From negative infinity to ​b​ and ​d​ to ​f
C) From negative infinity to ​a​, between ​c​ and ​e​, and ​g​ to positive infinity
D) From ​b​ to ​d​ and ​f​ to positive infinity

Explanation:
The only answer that fits is that along the ​x​ intervals, the function is increasing from ​b​ to ​d​ to ​f​ to
positive infinity.

A function is increasing when the ​y​-value increases as the ​x​-value increases (where the graph is

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shooting up to the right). If a particular section of a graph is trending up towards the right, this means
the function is increasing. So on this particular graph, ​y​ is increasing as ​x​ goes from ​b​ to ​d​ and from ​f​ to
positive infinity.

(We are assuming this graph goes to positive infinity because there is no end point in sight, just as we
would assume that the arms of a parabola keep going to infinity as well.)

Answer: D

PRACTICE PROBLEM 15: BASIC TRIGONOMETRY

For right triangle ​XYZ​ shown below, which of the following expressions has a value that is equal to sin
X​?

A) sin ​Y
B) cos ​X
C) cos ​Y
D) tan ​Y

Explanation:
Remember the mnemonic SOHCAHTOA, which helps us remember the trig function ratios for right
triangles.

S​ine =
O​pposite /
H​ypotenuse
C​osine =

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A​djacent /
H​ypotenuse
T​angent =
O​pposite /
A​djacent

3
Sin ​x​ then is opposite/hypotenuse or 5 .

3
We need to find which trig function in the answer choices also equals 5 . This would be cos ​y​. Cosine
3
is adjacent/hypotenuse, so cos ​y​ also equals 5 .

Answer: C

PRACTICE PROBLEM 16: GEOMETRY OF AREA

If the circle with center ​O​ has area 9​π,​ what is the area of equilateral triangle ​ABC​?

A) 9 √3
B) 18
C) 12 √3
D) 24

Explanation:
If we know the circle has an area of 9​π,​ then its radius must equal 3 (9​π​ = ​πr​ 2​​ , ​r​ = 3). If the radius is 3,

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then the diameter of the circle as a whole must be 6.

This radius of 6 is the key to finding the area of the triangle itself. Notice that the radius is line ​AD​,
which bisects both the circle and the equilateral triangle. By bisecting the equilateral triangle, ​AD
creates two 30-60-90 triangles, acting as a shared side for the two triangles.

Recall the rules for 30-60-90 triangles:

1. The side opposite the 90 degree angle is 2​x​.
2. The side opposite the 60 degree angle is ​x √3 .
3. The side opposite the 30 degree angle is ​x​.

In this figure, for either 30-60-90 triangle, the side opposite the 60 degree angle is side ​AD​, which we
know has a length of 6. So we can solve for ​x​. If ​x √3 = 6, then ​x​ must be 2 √3 , since 2 √3 × √3 = 2 × 3 =
6. This means that sides ​AC​ and ​AB​, both of which are opposite the 90 degree angle in their
respective 30-60-90 triangles, must have a length of 2 × 2 √3 , or 4 √3 , since that’s the value for 2​x​.
This, of course, means that side ​CB​ of the larger triangle also has a length of 4 √3 , since we’re dealing
with an equilateral triangle.

1
Now all we need to do to find the area of the triangle is to apply the triangle area formula, ( 2 ) × base ×
1
height. We can treat ​CB​ (4 √3 ) as the base, and ​AD​ (6) as the height. ( 2 ) × 4 √3 × 6 = 12 √3 .

Answer: C

PRACTICE PROBLEM 17: GEOMETRY OF VOLUME

The figure above shows a three dimensional object comprised of a cylinder with a radius of 4 feet and
a height of 5 feet, topped by a cone with a radius of 4 feet and a height of 3 feet. What is the total
volume of this object?

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A) 16​π
B) 48​π
C) 96​π
D) 144​π

Explanation:
To solve this problem, you need to add the areas of the cylinder portion of the object and the cone
portion of the object. This means using the formulas for cylinder area and cone area, as given at the
beginning of each SAT Math section. In case you need a reminder, here are the formulas:

1
Volume of a cone V​ = 3 π​r2​​ h

Volume of a cylinder ​ ​r2​​ h

V​ = π

The cylinder has a radius of 4 and a height of 5. So its area is:

π​r2​​ h​ = ​π​42​​ 5
π​16 × 5
π​80 = 80​π

The cone is right on top of the cylinder, so it would have the same base as the cylinder, and thus also
the same radius. So for the cone, ​r ​= 4, and h
​ ​ = 3. The area of the cone then is:
1
3 π​r2​​ h​ = 13 π​42​​ 3

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 1
3 π​16 × 3
1
3 π​48

π​16 = 16​π

Together, the area of the cone and cylinder parts of the object are 80​π​ + 16​π,​ or 96​π.​

Answer: D

PRACTICE PROBLEM 18: GEOMETRY OF LINES

Triangle ADG has an area of 6 square units. If AD = AF = 3, then what is the length of EF?

Explanation:
The first thing we want to do here is label our given measurements. Whenever we have a problem that
asks us to use or draw a reference picture, we always want to write and draw everything out. Let’s
mark down the length of sides ​AD​ and ​AF​.

Since the area of the entire triangle is given, we can go ahead and solve for the missing side length ​DG
using area = (½)base × height. In this case, we should get:

6 = .5 × 3 × height
4 = height

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Side length ​DG​ is equal to 4.

Now we can either use the Pythagorean Theorem to solve for side length ​AG​ or see that we have a
3-4-5 right triangle. Either way, we should get 5 for the length of side ​AG​.

From here, recognize that since both triangle ​AEF​ and ​ADG​ share an angle (angle ​A​) and are both right
triangles, they must be similar. Therefore, we can set up a ratio between the two triangles in order to
solve for length ​EF​.

We will use the two known hypotenuse lengths and the length of ​DG​:

3 x
5= 4
12
x​ = 5

12
Answer: 5

PRACTICE PROBLEM 19: GEOMETRY OF ANGLES

In the figure below, lines ​d​ and ​f​ are parallel and the angle measures are as given. What is the value of
x​?

A) 35
B) 60
C) 85
D) 100

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Explanation:
Since vertical angles are congruent, the angle vertical to the 35° angle also has a measure of 35°. The
supplement of the 120° angle has a measure of 60°, so we then have a triangle with angles measuring
35°, 60°, and ​x​°, as shown in the figure provided. Since the angles of a triangle add to 180°, 35° + 60° +
x​° = 180° and ​x​ = 180° – 35° – 60° = 85 °.

Answer: C

PRACTICE PROBLEM 20: GEOMETRY OF SHAPES

The length of Rectangle ​WXYZ​ is increased 20% and the width is decreased 20%. The area of the
resulting figure is what percent of Rectangle ​WXYZ​?
A) 4%
B) 96%
C) 120%
D) Cannot be determined from the information given.

Explanation:
Notice we are dealing with percent signs, so a nice easy number is to work with 10. Let’s assume both
sides are 10; after all, a square is a quadrilateral. The length becomes 12 and the width becomes 8. 12 ×
96
8 = 96. ​WXYZ​ had an area of 10 × 10 = 100. Therefore the resulting figure is 100 or 96% the area of

WXYZ​.

Now you are maybe thinking, “Oh, yeah? Well, what if we are dealing with a really skinny rectangle and
the length is 10 and the width is 1?”

Well, if you have a theory, test it out. Increasing 10 by 20% gives us 12. Decreasing 1 by 20% gives us .8.
10 × 1 = 10, and .8 × 12 = 9.6. Hmm…these numbers look really familiar, right?

So now matter what length and width we plug in, we will always get the same answer.

Answer: B

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