Question ID 371cbf6b

Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Equivalent

expressions

ID: 371cbf6b
3.1

The equation above is true for all x, where a and b are

constants. What is the value of ab ?
A. 18
B. 20
C. 24
D. 40

ID: 371cbf6b Answer

Correct Answer: C

Rationale

Choice C is correct. If the equation is true for all x, then the expressions on both sides of the equation will be
equivalent. Multiplying the polynomials on the left-hand side of the equation gives
. On the right-hand side of the equation, the only -term is . Since

the expressions on both sides of the equation are equivalent, it follows that , which can

be rewritten as . Therefore, , which gives .

Choice A is incorrect. If , then the coefficient of on the left-hand side of the equation would be

, which doesn’t equal the coefficient of , , on the right-hand side. Choice B is incorrect. If

, then the coefficient of on the left-hand side of the equation would be , which

doesn’t equal the coefficient of , , on the right-hand side. Choice D is incorrect. If , then the

coefficient of on the left-hand side of the equation would be , which doesn’t equal the

coefficient of , , on the right-hand side.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 40c09d66
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Equivalent

expressions

ID: 40c09d66
3.2

If for all positive values of x,

what is the value of ?

ID: 40c09d66 Answer

Rationale

The correct answer is . The value of can be found by first rewriting the left-hand side of the given

equation as . Using the properties of exponents, this expression can be rewritten as . This

expression can be rewritten by subtracting the fractions in the exponent, which yields . Thus, is .
Note that 7/6, 1.166, and 1.167 are examples of ways to enter a correct answer.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 34847f8a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Equivalent

expressions

ID: 34847f8a
3.3

The equation above is true for all , where r and t are positive
constants. What is the value of rt ?
A.
B.
C.
D.

ID: 34847f8a Answer

Correct Answer: C

Rationale

Choice C is correct. To express the sum of the two rational expressions on the left-hand side of the equation as
the single rational expression on the right-hand side of the equation, the expressions on the left-hand side

must have the same denominator. Multiplying the first expression by results in , and

multiplying the second expression by results in , so the given equation can be rewritten

as , or . Since
the two rational expressions on the left-hand side of the equation have the same denominator as the rational
expression on the right-hand side of the equation, it follows that . Combining like
terms on the left-hand side yields , so it follows that and . Therefore, the value of is
.

Choice A is incorrect and may result from an error when determining the sign of either r or t. Choice B is
incorrect and may result from not distributing the 2 and 3 to their respective terms in

. Choice D is incorrect and may result from a calculation error.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 137cc6fd
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Equivalent

expressions

ID: 137cc6fd
3.4

For what value of is the given expression equivalent to , where ?

ID: 137cc6fd Answer
Correct Answer: .0177, .0178, 4/225

Rationale

The correct answer is . An expression of the form , where is an integer greater than and , is

equivalent to . Therefore, the given expression, where , is equivalent to . Applying

properties of exponents, this expression can be rewritten as , or , which can be

rewritten as , or . It's given that the expression is equivalent to ,

where . It follows that is equivalent to . Therefore, . Dividing both sides of

this equation by yields , or . Thus, the value of for which the given expression is
equivalent to , where , is . Note that 4/225, .0177, .0178, 0.017, and 0.018 are examples of ways
to enter a correct answer.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID ea6d05bb
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Equivalent

expressions

ID: ea6d05bb
3.5
The expression is equivalent to the expression , where , , and are
constants. What is the value of ?
ID: ea6d05bb Answer
Correct Answer: -419

Rationale

The correct answer is . It's given that the expression is equivalent to the expression
, where , , and are constants. Applying the distributive property to the given expression,
, yields , which can be rewritten as
. Combining like terms yields . Since this expression is
equivalent to , it follows that the value of is .

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID d8789a4c
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Equivalent

expressions

ID: d8789a4c
3.6

In the expression above, b and c are positive integers. If the expression is

equivalent to and , which of the following could be the value of c
?
A. 4
B. 6
C. 8
D. 10

ID: d8789a4c Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale

Choice A is correct. If the given expression is equivalent to , then , where x isn’t equal to b.

Multiplying both sides of this equation by yields . Since the right-hand side of this

equation is in factored form for the difference of squares, the value of c must be a perfect square. Only choice A
gives a perfect square for the value of c.

Choices B, C, and D are incorrect. None of these values of c produces a difference of squares. For example,

when 6 is substituted for c in the given expression, the result is . The expression can’t be

factored with integer values, and therefore isn’t equivalent to .

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 5355c0ef
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Equivalent

expressions

ID: 5355c0ef
3.7

The given expression can be rewritten as , where is a constant. What is the value of ?
ID: 5355c0ef Answer
Correct Answer: .09, 9/100

Rationale

The correct answer is . It's given that the expression can be rewritten as
. Applying the distributive property to the expression yields
. Therefore, can be rewritten as . It follows that
in the expressions and , the coefficients of are equivalent, the
coefficients of are equivalent, and the constant terms are equivalent. Therefore, , , and
. Solving any of these equations for yields the value of . Dividing both sides of the equation
by yields . Therefore, the value of is . Note that .09 and 9/100 are examples of ways
to enter a correct answer.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID c81b6c57
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Equivalent

expressions

ID: c81b6c57
3.8
In the expression , p is a constant. This
expression is equivalent to the expression . What is the
value of p ?
A.
B.
C.
D.

ID: c81b6c57 Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale

2
Choice B is correct. Using the distributive property, the first given expression can be rewritten as 6x + 3px +
2 2
24 – 16px – 64x + 24, and then rewritten as 6x + (3p – 16p – 64)x + 24. Since the expression 6x + (3p – 16p –
2
64)x + 24 is equivalent to 6x – 155x + 24, the coefficients of the x terms from each expression are equivalent
to each other; thus 3p – 16p – 64 = –155. Combining like terms gives –13p – 64 = –155. Adding 64 to both sides
of the equation gives –13p = –71. Dividing both sides of the equation by –13 yields p = 7.

2
Choice A is incorrect. If p = –3, then the first expression would be equivalent to 6x – 25x + 24. Choice C is
2
incorrect. If p = 13, then the first expression would be equivalent to 6x – 233x + 24. Choice D is incorrect. If p =
2
155, then the first expression would be equivalent to 6x – 2,079x + 24.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 2c88af4d
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Equivalent

expressions

ID: 2c88af4d
3.9

The expression , where and , is

equivalent to which of the following?
A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: 2c88af4d Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is correct. For and , and are equivalent to and , respectively. Also, and

are equivalent to and , respectively. Therefore, the given expression can be rewritten as .

Choices A, B, and C are incorrect because these choices are not equivalent to the given expression for
and .

For example, for and , the value of the given expression is ; the values of the choices, however,

are , , and 1, respectively.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 22fd3e1f
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Equivalent

expressions

ID: 22fd3e1f
3.10

Which of the following expressions is

equivalent to , for ?
A.
B.

C.

D.

ID: 22fd3e1f Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is correct. Since and , the fraction can be

written as . It is given that , so the common factor is not equal to 0. Therefore, the

fraction can be further simplified to .

Choice A is incorrect. The expression is not equivalent to because at , as a value of 1

and has a value of 0.

Choice B is incorrect and results from omitting the factor x in the factorization of . Choice C is incorrect

and may result from incorrectly factoring as instead of .

Question Difficulty: Hard
Question ID a0b4103e
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Equivalent

expressions

ID: a0b4103e
3.11

The expression can be rewritten as , where k is a

positive constant. What is the value of k ?
A. 2
B. 6
C.
D.

ID: a0b4103e Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is correct. Factoring out the coefficient , the given expression can be rewritten as . The

expression can be approached as a difference of squares and rewritten as . Therefore,

k must be .

Choice A is incorrect. If k were 2, then the expression given would be rewritten as , which is

equivalent to , not .

Choice B is incorrect. This may result from incorrectly factoring the expression and finding as

the factored form of the expression. Choice C is incorrect. This may result from incorrectly distributing the

and rewriting the expression as .

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID ad038c19
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Equivalent

expressions

ID: ad038c19
3.12
Which of the following is
equivalent to ?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: ad038c19 Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is correct. The expression can be rewritten as . Using the distributive

property, the expression yields . Combining like terms gives

Choices A, B, and C are incorrect and may result from errors using the distributive property on the given
expression or combining like terms.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 12e7faf8
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Equivalent

expressions

ID: 12e7faf8
3.13

The equation is true for all , where a and d

are integers. What is the value of ?
A.
B.
C.
D.

ID: 12e7faf8 Answer

Correct Answer: C

Rationale

Choice C is correct. Since the expression can be factored as , the given equation can

be rewritten as . Since , is also not equal to 0, so both the numerator and

denominator of can be divided by . This gives . Equating the coefficient of x

on each side of the equation gives . Equating the constant terms gives . The sum is .

Choice A is incorrect and may result from incorrectly simplifying the equation. Choices B and D are incorrect.
They are the values of d and a, respectively, not .

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 89fc23af
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Equivalent

expressions

ID: 89fc23af
3.14
Which of the following expressions is
equivalent to ?
A.
B.
C.

D.

ID: 89fc23af Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale

Choice D is correct. The numerator of the given expression can be rewritten in terms of the denominator,

, as follows: , which is equivalent to . So the given

expression is equivalent to . Since the given expression is

defined for , the expression can be rewritten as .

Long division can also be used as an alternate approach. Choices A, B, and C are incorrect and may result from
errors made when dividing the two polynomials or making use of structure.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 911c415b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Equivalent

expressions

ID: 911c415b
3.15

The expression above can be written in the form , where a and b

are constants. What is the value of ?

ID: 911c415b Answer

Rationale

The correct answer is 6632. Applying the distributive property to the expression yields
. Then adding together and and collecting like

terms results in . This is written in the form , where and . Therefore

.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID f89e1d6f
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Equivalent

expressions

ID: f89e1d6f
3.16
If , which of the following is equivalent to the
expression ?
A.
B.
C.
D.

ID: f89e1d6f Answer

Correct Answer: C

Rationale

2 2 2 2 2
Choice C is correct. Factoring –1 from the second, third, and fourth terms gives x –c
– 2cd – d = x – (c
2 2 2 2 2 2
+ 2cd + d ). The expression c + 2cd + d is the expanded form of a perfect square: c + 2cd + d = (c + d) .
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Therefore, x – (c + 2cd + d ) = x – (c + d) . Since a = c + d, x – (c + d) = x – a . Finally, because x –
2 2 2
a is the difference of squares, it can be expanded as x –a = (x + a)(x – a).

Choices A and B are incorrect and may be the result of making an error in factoring the difference of squares
2 2
x – a . Choice D is incorrect and may be the result of incorrectly combining terms.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID e117d3b8
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Equivalent

expressions

ID: e117d3b8
3.17
If a and c are positive numbers, which of the following is
equivalent to ?
A.
B.
C.
D.

ID: e117d3b8 Answer

Correct Answer: C

Rationale

3
Choice C is correct. Using the property that for positive numbers x and y, with x = (a + c) and y
4 22
= a + c, it follows that . By rewriting (a + c) as ((a + c) ) , it is possible to

simplify the square root expression as follows: .

Choice A is incorrect and may be the result of . Choice B is incorrect and may be the
2 2 2
result of incorrectly rewriting (a + c) as a + c . Choice D is incorrect and may be the result of incorrectly
applying properties of exponents.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID c6e85cd7
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Equivalent

expressions

ID: c6e85cd7
3.18
If , what is the value of ?

ID: c6e85cd7 Answer

Correct Answer: .2916, .2917, 7/24

Rationale
7
The correct answer is
24 √𝑎𝑚 , where 𝑚 and 𝑛 are integers greater than 1 and 𝑎 ≥ 0, is equivalent
. An expression of the form 𝑛
𝑚 7 7
to 𝑎 Therefore, the expression on the right-hand side of the given equation, 3√47 , is equivalent to 4 3 . Thus, 48𝑐 = 4 3 . It
𝑛.
7 7
follows that 8𝑐 = . Dividing both sides of this equation by 8 yields 𝑐 = . Note that 7/24, .2916, .2917, 0.219, and 0.292 are
3 24
examples of ways to enter a correct answer.

Question Difficulty: Hard