Panda Sat Math
Panda Sat Math
SAT Math
Advanc& Cuide ard Workbook
For The
New SAT
Nielson Phu
The College Panda
SAT Math
Advanced Guide and Workbook
ISBN: 978-0-9894964-2-1
No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the author.
*SAT is a registered trademark of the College Board, which does not endorse this product.
Discounts available for teachers and companies. Please contact thecollegepanda@gmail.com for details.
Some topics only show up in the calculator section. I've made sure to accurately divide the practice questions
into non-calculator and calculator components.
topics yet weak in others. If so, feel free to jump around, focusing on the chapters that are most relevant to
your improvement.
All chapters come with exercises. Do them. You won't master the material until you think through the
questions yourself.
Table of Contents
2 Percent 15
Percent change
Simple interest and compound interest
Percent word problems
4 Proportion 30
5 Rates 34
Conversion factors
6 Expressions 42
Combining like terms
Expansion and factoring
Combining, dividing, and splitting fractions
9 Systems of Equations
Substitution
Elimination
Systems with no solutions and infinite solutions
Word problems
More complex systems
Graphs of systems of equations
10 Inequalities 79
How to solve inequalities
Inequalityword problems
Graphs of inequalities
11 Word Problems 90
12 Lines 99
Slope and y-intercept
Equations of lines: slope-intercept form and point-slope form
Finding the intersection of two lines
Parallel and perpendicular lines
Horizontal and vertical lines
15 Quadratics 126
Tactics for finding the roots
Polygons
20 Triangles 168
Isosceles and equilateral triangles
Right triangles
Special right triangles
Similar triangles
Radians
21 Circles 189
Area and circumference
Arc length
Area of a sector
Central and inscribed angles
Equations of circles
22 Trigonometry 198
Sine, cosine, and tangent
Trigonometric identities
Evaluating trigonometric expressions
26 Statistics II 233
sampling
Statistical
Using and interpreting the line of best fit
Margin of error
Confidence intervals
Experimental design and conclusions
27 Volume 246
28 Answers to the Exercises 251
Law Example
30
xm • xli 34 • 35
m—n
33
mn
(32)4
(xy)m x my m (2-3)3 23 • 33
33
34
(—3)2 and — 32
-32
The negative is not applied until the exponent operation is carried through. Make sure you understand this so
you don't make this common mistake. Sometimes, the result turns out to be the same, as in:
(—2)3 and 23
Make sure you see why they yield the same result.
EXERCISE 1: Evaluate WITHOUT a calculator. Answers for this chapter start on page 251.
1.
(—1)4 19. 50
2. 11. 20. 32
7. 16. 30 25. 7 2
EXERCISE 2: Simplify so that your answer contains only positive exponents. Do NOT use a calculator. The
first two have been done for you. Answers for this chapter start on page 251.
11. (x2y 3 —1 •a
1. 3x2 2x3 6x5 1 20. (a
8
2. 2k-4 4k2 •
6u4 21. . (b3)2
12.
8112
(m2n)3
3. 5x4 3x -2 22.
2uv2
•
13. (mn2)2
4. 7m3 —3m¯3 •
x2 1
14. 23.
x —3 x —2
5. (2x2) 3
3x4
mn
6. 3a2b—3 3 a-5b8 .
24.
15. m2n3
-2 2
(x
7
311
3
25.
6113
16. k-3
1
8. 3
(a2b3)2 m2
17. x2 x3 26.
n3
•
4
9.
xy
x3y2 18. (x 2X3
x2y3z4
19. (2m)2 • (3m3)2 x-3y-4z-5
10
Let's avoid the trouble of finding what x is. Here we notice that the 2 in the exponent is the only difference
between the given equation and what we want. So using our laws of exponents, let's extract the 2 out:
31+2 32 y
31 Y
9
Here we see that the bases are the same. The exponents must therefore be equal.
2a 6
(22)a 22a 4
16
2b 2b 2b
But what about x3? The 2 on top means to square x. The 3 on the bottom means to cube root it:
The order in which we do the squaring and the cube-rooting doesn't matter.
The end result just looks prettier with the cube root on the outside. That way, we don't need the parentheses.
EXAMPLE 4: mfo/lowingis
A) x Ox$—x4
1
The fourth root equates to a fractional exponent of so
4'
4 5
Answer (C) .
10
The SAT will also test you on simplifying square roots (also called "surds"). To simplify a square root, factor
the number inside the square root and take out any pairs:
In the example above, we take a 2 out for the first Ü]. Then we take another 2 out for the second pair
Finally, we multiply the two 2's outside the square root to get 4. Of course, a quicker route would have looked
like this:
48
72-
To go backwards, take the number outside and put it back under the square root as a pair:
72
B) j? 9.16 D)48
3-4
48 3x
48
16 x
Answer (C) .
(4 v6)2 = ( 3x)2
16-3
16 — x
11
EXERCISE 3: Simplify the radicals or solve for x. Do NOT use a calculator. Answers for this chapter start on
page 251.
1. 12 10. 128
2. 96 11. 5Vä
12.
13.
14. 4
6. 3vfiS 15.
16. -
8. 200 17.
12
10
3
10
B) 20 C) 40
C) 25 D) 80
D) 30
A) (-2a)b
B) (—2a)2b
C) (2a)b
D) 2112b
A) b ax2
13
13
If x2 y3, for what value of z does x If xac • xbc x30, x > 1, and a -h b 5, what is
the value of c?
D) 10
10
11
2
3
15
4
12
2 x+2—3v6
If x > 0 in the equation above, what is the value
Of X?
A) 2.5
C) 3.5
1
x 30 x 30 — 15
2
9
900/0 x 50 x 50 = 45
10
60 3
So he got 15 + 45 60 questions correct out of a total of 30 + 50 80 questions. 75
80 4
101atiémT
din Sto Sign Parkin& Total
Truck .39 17 124
Car 160
'Total 1 43
owinglsclosest€öthepercentofgecordedp kiilgviolationsthatwerecommitted
by trucks?
A) 60/0
PART 'If tQata were yseå drivinv violation inKOrmation about 2,000 totaLviolations{in a
ståtg, which-of the followitqg iS the bestestimate Of thenumber of Speeding violations committed
by qrsinthepte
4)479 B)585 01063 D)1059
15
Part 1 Solution:
Truck Parking Violations 17
— 0.3953 400/0
Total Parking Violations 43
Answer (C) .
Part 2 Solution: The SAT will often ask you to estimate or predict certain information based on a smaller
sample size. In these questions, take what you learn from the smaller size and simply apply it to the larger
Car Speeding Violations 83
population. From the sample size, Now we can apply this same proportion
Total Parking Violations 284
to the state total of 2,000:
83
x 2000 585
Answer (B) .
Here's the technique for dealing with these "series of percent change" questions. Let the original price be p.
When p is increased by 20%, you multiply by 1.20 because it's the original price plus 20%. When it's decreased
by 40%, you multiply by .60 because 60% is what's left after you take away 40%. Our final price is then
Example 3 shows the MOST IMPORTANT percent concept by far on the SAT. Never ever calculate the prices
at each step. String all the changes together to get the end result.
important to know why this works. Imagine again that the original price
It's is p and we want to increase it by
20%. Normally, we would just take p and add 20% of it on top:
p —I— .20p
which proves we can calculate the final price directly through this technique. Now we're set up to tackle the
inevitable compound interest questions on the SAT.
16
B) 1000+3000)
A 3 percent interest rate compounded annually means he earns 3 percent on the account once a year. Keep in
mind that this isn't just 3% on the original amount of $1000. This is 3% of whatever's in the account at the time,
including any interest that he's already earned in previous years. This is the meaning of compound interest.
So if we're in year 5, he would earn 3% on the original $1000 and 3% on the total interest deposited in years 1
through 4.
If we try to calculate the total after each and every year, this problem would take forever. Let's take what we
learned from Example 3 and apply it here:
See the pattern? Each year an increase of 3% so it's just 1.03 times whatever the value was last year. Note
is
that we're not doing any calculations out. Think of it as the price of a dress being increased by 3% ten times.
of these;comßOund interes questions can be modeled by the equation i)! , wilere 4is
the totalmqmoufitaqcumulated, is thé prmci al oc the initial is the interesf@tet.nd:! is the
rugnbér Of timé$ intere9t is received.
EXAMPLE S: Jay puts an initial depesi€ of $100 a bank accoun€that earnsS percenV Interest each,
year, compoundeasemiann@ålly.EWh1ch -of tfref6110wiHb equations givesthe total doliÅr amount/A; in
the accou»t after -t years?
4090±9.10
The interest is compounded semiannually. That means twice a year. So interest is received 2t times. However,
we don't receive a full 5% each time interest The 5% interest rate is a yearly figure. We have to
is received.
Note that semiannual compounding is better than annual compounding. Why? With annual compounding,
you just get 5% on the initial amount after one year. That's just like 2.5% on the initial amount and then another
2.5% on the initial amount. But with semiannual compounding, you get 2.5% on the initial amount and then
you get 2.5% on the mid-year amount, which is greater than the initial amount because it includes the first
interest payment. Because you've already earned interest before the end of the year, you get a little extra.
This might not seem like a lot, but over many years, it can make a huge difference. The more times interest is
compounded, the more money you accumulate.
17
•where-A is theototalamount åccumulated, P is the principal O? mitial amount, r is the interest rate t isthe—•
Of the number Of times the interest iS compounded eachyear. You don'! need to •z
theSe$OÉfr1UI@Soif the math
Now we've shown you how to handle compound interest questions, let's take a step back to bring up
that
simple While compound interest lets you earn interest on interest you've earned, simple interest
interest.
means you get the same amount each time. Interest is earned only on the original amount, not on any interest
you've earned.
EXAMPLE 6'. investor decides to Offer bUsmess Ownei å$20,0010an at Omp e mterestof 5%per.z
year. Whicfrof gives dollarsnthemveStor will receive when
theåoaiiß repaid after t years?
—
At a simple interest of 5%, the investor will receive 20, 000(0.05) in interest each year. That amount does not
change because the 5% always applies to the original $20,000 under simple interest. So after t years, he will
receive a total of 20, 000 (0.05)t in interest.
Notice how we factored out the 20,000 in the last step. The answer is (D) . The answer would have been (A)
under compound interest.
EXAMPLE74 firs year, the chickens onafarm laid 30% less €ygs aid VaStyeaw Ifthey laid 3,300
v.ggsthisye 'how many did they iåy lasfyear?
3,500 Year)
18
For example, if the price of a dress starts out at 80 dollars and rises to 90 dollars, the percent change is:
90 80
x 100 — 12.5%
80
If percent change is positive, it's a percent increase. Negative? Percent decrease. It's important to remember
that percent change is always based on the original value.
EXAMPLE Ina particular sto e, the nugvber Of TVS sold tthe week df Blaa Friday was •68ü The number
6f,TVS$old the following week was 500. TV sales theweek following Black Friday werewhat percentless
thanTV Salesthe Week ofoElaclf Friday (roundedto•the nearestrcent)?
500 - 685
-0.27
685
470 - 320
0.47
320
This time, the week of Black Friday is not the "original" basis for the percent change. We put the difference
over the previous week's number, 320. The answer is (D)
19
EXAMPLÉ 10: Thenumber of students at aschool decreased fronq 2010 tox201T. Vthe Kumber of •E
students was k, whifh9t@iefdlowing expgesses+engmber of students enrolledjn
Of
cn.25Je V)1.5k
The answer is NOT 1.20k. Percent change is based off of the original value (from 2010) and not the new value.
Let x be the number of students in 2010,
.80x k
x 1.25k
Therefore, there were 25% more students in 2010 than in 2011. Answer (C) .
fah$;2ÖO/Q SOSS$
We don't know the number of 10th graders at the school so let's suppose that it's 100.
A common strategy in percent questions is to make up a number to represent the total, typically 100.
20
Veronica has a bank account that earns m% Which week accounted for approximately 32%
interest compounded annually. If she opened the of all the box spring units sold?
D) 1 +100m
Approximately what percentage of all units sold
came from week 2?
A) 15.8%
B) 26.7%
In a survey of 400 seniors, x percent said that
C) 31.3%
they plan on majoring in physics. One university
has used this data to estimate the number of D) 47.0%
physics majors it expects for its entering class of
3,300 students. If the university expects 66
physics majors, what is the value of x?
C) 44.7%
D) 55.3%
21
10
What was the approximate percent decrease in Joanne bought a doll at a 10 percent discount off
the number of mattresses sold from week 3 to the original price of $105.82. However, she had
week 4? to pay a sales tax of x% on the discounted price.
If the total amount she paid for the doll was
A) 37%
$100, what is the value of x?
D) 58%
B) 480/0
D) 56%
12
Each day, Robert eats 40% of the pistachios left
in his jar at that time. At the end of the second Over a two week span, John ate 20 pounds of
day, 27 pistachios remain. How many pistachios chicken wings and 15 pounds of hot dogs. Kyle
were in the jar at the start of the first day? ate 20 percent more chicken wings and 40
A) 25
B) 27
C) 29
D) 30
22
13 16
Jane is playing a board game in which she must A small clothing store sells 3 different types of
collect as many cards as possible. On her first accessories: 20% are scarves, 60% are ties, and
turn, she loses 18 percent of her cards. On the the other 40 accessories are belts. If half of the
second turn, she increases her card count by 36 ties are replaced with scarves, how many scarves
percent. If her final card count after these two will the store have?
turns is n, which of the following represents her
starting card count in terms of n?
n
(1.18) (0.64)
B) (1.18) (0.64)n
n
C)
(1.36) (0.82) 17
D) (0.82) (1.36)n
Daniel has $1000 in a checking account and
$3000 in a savings account. The checking
account earns him 1 percent interest
compounded annually. The savings account
Due to deforestation, researchers expect the deer earns him 6 percent interest compounded
population to decline by 6 percent every year. If annually. Assuming he leaves both these
the current deer population is 12,000, what is the accounts alone, which of the following
approximate expected population size 10 years represents how much more interest Daniel will
from now? have earned from the savings account than from
the checking account after 5 years?
A) 4800
B) 6460
C) 7240
D) 7980 C) (3, 000(1.06) 5 3, 000)
1, 000)
D) (3, -3,000)
15
(1, 000(1.01) (5) - 1, 000)
23
Y = ax
where y is the final amount after t time intervals, a is the initial amount, and x is the rate that we multiply by.
So if we started off with 100 ants, our equation would be
where t is the number of months that have gone by. And if our bank account started off with $200, our equation
would look like
where t is the number of years. You've seen this already in the previous chapter.
24
Notice how the graph creeps up slowly at first but then shoots up faster and faster over time. That's exponential
growth.
Exponential decay, however, is the opposite. Imagine a radioactive element that loses mass over time. It loses
a lot of its mass at first but then loses it more slowly over time.
Mass
Memorize the shape of these graphs for exponential growth and decay. The SAT will test you explicitly on
them.
The equation for exponential decay is the same as the equation for exponential growth:
Y — ax
The only difference is that the rate, x, is less than 1. So in the case of radioactive decay, the equation might look
like
where y is the final mass, 400 is the initial amount, and t is the number of years that have gone by.
Now compare exponential growth and decay to linear growth and decay. As you may already know, linear
growth can be modeled by a line with a positive slope. For example, if Ann has a piggybank with 50 dollars
already in it, and she adds 10 dollars every month, the total amount in the piggybank can be modeled by
A 10t +50
where A is the total amount, t is the number of months, and 50 (the y-intercept) is the initial amount.
Unlike exponential growth, linear growth doesn't have moments when it slows down or speeds up. Growth
is constant. It goes up by the same amount each time.
25
The same holds for linear decay. Imagine Ann now takes 10 dollars every month out of her piggybank, which
initially contained 100 dollars. The final amount A would be
A = 50 10t
Both exponential decay and linear decay are examples of a negative association between two things. As one
thing increases, the other thing decreases. For example, the number of absences over the semester and final
exam scores:
Final Exam Score
Number of Absences
When the data points are close to forming a smooth line or graph that shows the negative relationship, we can
say there is a strong negative association.
A positive association happens when one thing increases, the other thing also increases. We saw this with
exponential growth and linear growth. For example, the number of hours spent studying and final exam
scores:
Hours Studied
26
14,
D) +20
considered to be linear?
A) P — 25t + 100
— —I— 5t 100
27
A calculator is allowed on the following Jamie owes Tina some money and decides to pay
her back in the following way. Tina receives 3
questions.
dollars the first day, 6 dollars the second day, 18
and 54 dollars the fourth
dollars the third day,
day. Which of the following best describes the
Which scatterplot shows the strongest positive relationship between time and the total amount
A) Increasing linear
B) Decreasing linear
C) Exponential growth
D) Exponential decay
A) Increasing linear
B) Decreasing linear
C) Exponential growth
D) Exponential decay
C)
c — 80 r 1.5
D) c = 80,r —2
28
29
Now let's say we triple the height. What happens to the area?
Well, if we triple the height, the new height is 3h. The new area is then
1
Anew -b(3h) =3 -bh 3A01d
2
See what happened? The terms were rearranged so that we could clearly see the new area is three times the
old area. We put the "3" out in front of the old formula.
This technique is extremely important because it saves us time on tough proportion problems. We could've
made up numbers for the base and the height and calculated everything out, and while that's certainly a
strategy you should have in your toolbox, it would've taken much longer and left us more open to silly
mistakes.
EXAMPLE the radius :ofÄ grcle IS mereasyg by 250K By What percexydøes the areæofthe circle
Let the original area be Aold. If the original radius is r, then the new radius is 1.25r.
The idea is to get a number in front of the old formula. In the previous example, that number turned out
tobe 1.5625. Also note that the 1.25r was wrapped in parentheses so that the whole thing gets squared. It
would've been incorrect to have Anew because we wouldn't be squaring the new radius.
30
The area has decreased by 4%. Answer (C) . Most students think the answer is (D). It's not.
EXAMPLE3:
theoriymdforce?
C)
Answer (B) . Notice how we do not let constants like the "9" in the formula affect the result. In getting
a number out front, students often make the mistake of mixing that number up with numbers that were
originally in the formula.
Fj12% C)Å3Yo,
Now we have to solve backwards. Keep in mind that the volume of a cube is V s3 where s is the length of
each side. Even though this problem is a little different, we can still apply the same process as before: increase
each side by some factor and rearrange the terms to extract a number. Only this time, we have to use x.
new — (xs)3
new X
33
S x3V01d
Notice how we were still able to extract something out in front, x3. That x3 must be equal to 3 if the new
volume is to be triple the old volume:
x - 1.44
Each side must have been increased by approximately 44%. Answer (D)
31
B) 1.59
C) 1.67
D) 2.00
A right circular cone has a base radius of r and a
height of h. If the radius is decreased by 20
percent and the height is increased by 10
percent, which of the following is the resulting
percent change in the volume of the cone?
A) 100/0
B) 12% decrease
C) 18.4% decrease
D) 29.6% decrease
32
450 27
1
s
B)
9
In the triangle above, the lengths of the sides 1
relate to one another as shown. If a new triangle C)
3
is created by decreasing s such that the area of 2
the new triangle is 64 percent of the original area, 3
s must have been decreased by what percent?
B) 200/0
C) 25%
L 47td2b
C) 16
D) 18
33
EXAMPLE& bicyclesperhoumHownanyhourswou14ittake
thejnanUfaemrefto
Easy enough. We divide the total by the rate to get 320 + 20 — hours.
Here, we are figuring out the rate. In 6 —2 4 hours of flight, the rocket burned 360 100 = 260 gallons of
260
fuel. Therefore, the rocket burns gallons of fuel every hour.
4
thesupemarke!fi oranges„hOwnanybOxeswillthesupermarkéEbeåble to
co*ieiy fill?
If each orange is 20 cents, then a dollar would be enough for 5 oranges. Five hundred dollars would be enough
for 500 x 5 2500 oranges, which would fill 2500 + 6 = 416.67 boxes. Given that the question asks for full
The examples above were quite straightforward and didn't really call for writing out full conversion factors,
but what if we wanted to use conversion factors for Example 3? What would've the solution looked like?
34
The rest of the examples in this chapter are done with conversion factors to teach you how they're used, even
though there may be more "casual" solutions.
EXAMPLE 4: I-mile iruxninute and 15 seconds. At this rate,how manymiles can the car
travel in
In most rate problems, you'll start with what the question is asking for. We need to convert that 1 hour to a
distance that the car travels. The car's rate is 1 mile every 75 seconds.
The units should cancel as you go along. If the units are canceling, chances are we're doing things right. Notice
that the "miles" unit at the end is the unit we wanted to end up with. This is another sign that we've done
things right.
'EXAMPLE G: Torn hes3(j åt an averagefaG of 50 miles per hour: If Leona drives at an åverage
xate»014dmi1es pernour,howmanymoreminutgswi111tÅk her to Såme
1 hour 60 minutes
30 miles x 36 minutes
50 miles 1 hour
so,
45 - 36 9 minutes
B)
Good bye p
35
A) 0.1
D) 10
36
An empty pool can be filled in 5 hours if water is During a race on a circular race track, a racecar
pumped in at 300 gallons an hour. How many burns fuel at a constant rate. After lap 4, the
hours would it take to fill the pool if water is racecar has 22 gallons left in its tank. After lap 7,
pumped in at 500 gallons an hour? the racecar has 18 gallons left in its tank.
Assuming the racecar does not refuel, after
which lap will the racecar have 6 gallons left in
its tank?
A) Lap 13
B) Lap 15
C) Lap 16
D) Lap 19
20
ad
37
11 14
An internet service provider charges a one time A cupcake stole employs bakers to make boxes
setup fee of $100 and $50 each month for service. of cupcakes. Each box contains x cupcakes and
If c customers join at the same time and are on each baker is expected to produce y cupcakes
the service for m months, which of the following each day. Which of the following expressions
expressions represents the total amount, in gives the number of boxes needed for all the
dollars, the provider has charged these cupcakes produced by 3x bakers working for 4
customers? days?
12 D)
md + t mn
B) 8
x
mn
4
mx
C)
8
m
D) 2mn
13
D) 0.6m
38
16 19
20
x 100
100
39
23 26
A train covers 32 kilometers in 14.5 minutes. If it An 8 inch by 10 inch piece of cardboard costs
continues to travel at the same rate, which of the $2.00. If the cost of a piece of cardboard is
following is closest to the distance it will travel proportional to what is the cost of a
its area,
in 2 hours? piece of cardboard that is 16 inches by 20 inches?
A) 54 kilometers A) $4.00
B) 265 kilometers B) $8.00
24 27
One liter is equivalent to approximately 33.8 Margaret can buy 4 jars of honey for 9 dollars,
ounces. Mark has plastic cups that can each hold and she can sell 3 jars of honey for 15 dollars.
12 ounces of liquid. At most, how many of these How many jars of honey would she have to buy
plastic cups could a two liter bottle of soda fill? and then sell to make a total profit of 132
dollars?
25
28
Brett currentlyspends $160 each month on gas.
His current car is able to travel 30 miles per
In one hour, Jason can install at least 6 windows
gallon of gas. He decides to switch his current
but no more than 8 windows. Which of the
car for a new car that is able to travel 40 miles
following could be a possible amount of time, in
per gallon of gas. Assuming the price of gas
hours, that Jason takes to install 100 windows in
stays the same, how much will he spend on gas
a home?
each month with the new car?
A) 12
A) $100
B) 16
B) $120
C) 17
C) $130
D) 18
D) $140
40
29
30
41
When combining like terms, the most important mistake to avoid is putting terms together that look like they
can go together but can't. For example, you cannot combine b2 + b to make b3, nor can you combine a + ab to
make 2ab. To add or subtract, the variables have to completely match.
EXÄMPtÉn:
Answer (C) .
42
EXAMPLE 2:
•-34j(2x4Ä3)
Some people like to expand using a method called FOIL (first, outer, inner, last), If you haven't heard of it,
that's totally fine. After all, it's the same thing as distributing each term. First, we distribute the 02."
+3) (21 - + 3)
Notice that it applies to just one Of the two factors. Either one is fine, but NOT both.
Answer (A)
Now when it comes to factoring and expansion. there are several key formulas you should know:
• (a + + 2nb + b2
• (a — 2ab b2
Part of what makes for a top SAT score is pattern recognition. Once you've done enough practice, you should
be able to recognize the question above as a difference Of two squares, a variation Of the — b2 forrnula.
SAT will rarely test you on those formulas in a straightforward way Be on the lookout for variations that
match the pattern. With more practice, you'll get better and better at noticing them.
Using the formula — b? (a + b) (a — b), we can see that 2.v2 and b 3y, 'Therefore,
Answer (D)
43
EXAMPLE
16x4 •8xXy2
This is not in the answer choices. We have to take it one step further and apply the a2 — b2 formula to the
expression inside the parentheses.
Answer (C) .
3. Combining Fractions
3 4
the first step is to find the least common multiple of the denominators. We do this so that we can get a common
denominator. In a lot of cases, it's just the product of the denominators, as it is here, 3 x 4 — 12.
1 1 1413 4 3 7
-4 •j 12 12 12
Now when we're adding fractions with expressions in the denominator, the idea is the same.
NEXAMPtÉ5•,
eqUWalent Vo the
3x 2
B)
The common denominator is just the product of the two denominators: (x + 2) (x — 2). So now we multiply
the top and bottom of each fraction by the factor they don't have:
1 2 1 2
Answer (B) .
44
2
The difference is where the longer fraction line is. The first is divided by 3. The second is 1 divided by
3
They're not the same.
1
2 1 1 1 1
3 2 2 3 6
1 2 3 3
2 3 2 2
3
a ac
b b
a
a
c bc
VI IYCx 1
First, combine the two fractions on the bottom with the common denominator (x — 1) (x + 1).
1 1
x x(x
2
Answer (D) .
45
5. Splitting fractions
30+c
•EXAMPLE'; Which Of the following is equivalent to
B) C) 5+c— D)5+
6 6 6 6
3
In fact, you cannot break up a fraction like any further.
46
B) 12xy(x +y) C)
3x
C) 6x2y2(y + x)
D) 1
D) 12x3y3
following?
B) 3(x2 -1)2
B)
4
D)
Which of the following is equivalent to the
expression shown above?
B) x2y + x2z + Y2 + yz
C) X2y+y2+x2z
2
D) x2 —I— x2Z Y2 —I— Yz xy x
Which of the following is equivalent to
xy — Y2
x
x
x
D)
47
2 3 10
3x3 8x — 4x
6
6 7x2 - lix -7
B)
Which of the following is the sum of the two
6 polynomials above?
C)
5x +7 + x2 — 15x - 7
A) 3x3
1
D) B) 3x3 + 15x2 - 15x - 7
42
C) 10x5 - 7x - 7
1 11
x
1
2 (5a + 3 vna) (2a +
x
Which of the following is equivalent to the
The expression above is equivalent to which of expression above?
the following?
A) — 2av/å
B)
C)
12
48
You should be ruthless in finding like terms and combining them. Doing so will simplify things and allow you
to figure out the next step.
EXAMPLEI:
The same four variables are on both sides of the equation, a, b, c and d. That should tell you to distribute on the
left side first and then combine like terms. Sounds simple but you won't believe how many students forget to
2a 2 317
49
When squaring equations to remove a square root, the most important thing to remember is that you're not
squaring individual elements you're squaring the entire side.
EXAMPLE 2:
The square root in the problem should scream to you that the equation should be squared. Most students know
the square root should be eliminated, but here's the common mistake they make:
ab a
2 — b2
They square each individual element. However, this is WRONG. When modifying equations, you must apply
any given operation to the entire SIDE, like so:
If it helps, wrap each side in parentheses before applying the operation. By the way, the same holds true for
all other operations, including multiplication and division. When you multiply or divide both sides of an
equation, what you're
actually doing is wrapping each side in parentheses, but because of the distributive
property, ithappens that multiplying or dividing each individual element gets you the same result. For
just so
example, if we had the equation
The answer is D
Another common mistake is squaring each side before the square root is isolated on one side. For example,
Don't square each side until you've moved the "3" on the left to the right:
50
v/iS
However, this only applies when you're taking the square root to solve an equation. By definition, square
roots always refer to the positive root. So, — 3, NOT And — —3 is not possible (except when
working with non-real numbers, which we'll look at in a future chapter). The plus or minus is only necessary
when the square root is used as a tool to solve an equation. That way, we get all the possible solutions to the
equation.
(x +3)2 — 121
— 121
¯ ill
11
a c
4 10
—x
5 3
12x 50
25
6
51
5 3
—o
5 3
5x + 10 3x —6
—16
-8
Some equations have variables that are tougher to isolate. For a lot of these equations, you will have to do
some shifting around to factor out the variable you want.
a
b
3ab + bc
bc =a 3ab
bc - 3b)
bc
a
1-3b
See what we did? We expanded everything out and put every term containing a on the right side. Then we
were able to factor out a and isolate it. The answer is (A)
52
GXAMPLE 7:
—What is one possible real valüe of x for which the equation above is true?
x4 + 3x3 + x + 3
x3(x +3) + (x +3) —
0
x —3 or — 1
Once we factored out x3 from the first two terms, further factoring was possible with the (x + 3) term. How
would you know to do this? Experience.
EXAMPLE 8:
+ xæ:+r
Don't let the big and complicated expressions freak you out. Treat these complicated expressions as one unit
or variable, like so:
mA
c
Divide both sides by A.
AC
53
x
1
Answer (D)
99
+ 24 — 0
-24=0
- 24
—o
—o
-9 or 2
Get in the habit of looking for what you want before you solve for anything specific. Is there any way to get
the answer without solving for x and y?
54
2
B) D)
Here, we have no choice but to solve for the expression. We're given x over y but we want y over x. We can
flip the given equation to get
1
Then we can divide both sides by 2 to obtain the — we're looking for.
1 1
2-3 6
When all else fails and you don't have any answer choices or a calculator to work from, it never hurts to guess
and check small numbers.
xpe 4) 4x
If you have to do a question this complicated without a calculator or any answer choices, you know it has to
be solvable through basic guess and check. There's simply no other way.
It would be silly to show you every step of guess and check on this page. Just remember to start with numbers
like 0, 1, 2, and —1. In this case, the answer is 2 .
55
EXERCISE 1: Isolate the variable in bold. Answers for this chapter start on page 264.
1. 7tr2
2
22. If t —ax, find ax in terms of t.
3
2. C 27tr
23. If 3x + 6y — 7z, find x + 2y in terrns of z.
3. A —bh 24. If x 5 2b, find 2x + 10 in terms of b.
V Iwh
25. If a, find 4t in terms of a.
V nr2h
2
26. If find p
V 7tr2h 3'
2
7. c a2 + b2 1
27. If find t in terms of r.
2'
V— s3
a c 1
11. 30. lf2X r3 m(x2 + 1) 2 , what is m in
l) x
terms of x?
1
31. If — x3 , what is n in terms of x?
13. m 512 —3 nx
7x2 3
15. u2 + 2as 33. If k(x2 4) -l- ky , what is k in terms of
2
a x x and y?
16.
18.
56
1
—2, then (a + 6
2
3
5
C)
D) 125
b 4 x
If 1, what is the value of b — ac? If where k —2, what is k in terms
a k+2 3'
of x?
A) —3
12
x
12 + 2X
D) It cannot be determined from the B)
x
information given.
x
C)
12 + 2x
A) —5
2
21 If (x -3) 36 and x < 0, what is the value of
x2?
C) -30
¯ 37
57
13
x2(x4 — 9) 8x4
l)
Ifx > 0, for what real value of x is the equation
The formula above gives the future value f of an above true?
annuity based on the monthly payment p, the
interest rate i, and the number of months n.
and n?
1
B) 14
C)
If 6 and x > 0, what is the value of
—1 3
X?
m n
If 2, what is the value of
2m
1
15
8
1
4 20 — _ 10
1
Ifx > 0, for what value of x is the equation
2
above true?
11
A) — 16
B) —8
12
58
16
3
D) 6y+3z
7
20
2
xy2+ x —1 0
18
C) 11
D) 13
59
2 A
Tt12g — YTt11g
nil + 1112
21
a(rnl + Tt12)
2
nil
a(nll + Tt12)
nt2g nilg
60
depreciation.
23
-1
24
A) 0.13
B) 0.15
C) 0.16
D) 0.2
61
1. Matching coefficients
It's hard to see anything meaningful right away on both sides of the equation. So let's expand the left side first
and sec if that takes us anywhere.
2
x 2ax a
So now we have
— x2 + 8x + b
We can match up the coefficients.
x2 + 2ax + a 2
So,
2a—8
2
a b
62
2. Clearing denominators
When you solve an equation like —x + —x 10, a likely first step is to get rid of the fractions, which are harder
to work with. How do we do that? By multiplying both sides by 6. But where did that 6 come from? 2 times
3. Sothis is what you're actually doing when you multiply by 6:
1
-x. (2-3) + -x. (2-3) — 10 • (2-3)
2
1
(2.3) + -x. (2.3) = • (2 • 3)
3x + 2x 60
We got rid of the fractions by clearing the denominators. Here's the takeaway: we can do the same thing even
when there are variables in the denominators.
EXAMPLE 2:
—2
Ifx iSa$OIutiOn 0, is the Value Of x?
3 5
x
3 5
— 2x(x + 2)
2x2 + 4x
— 2x2 + 4x
0
0
63
Here's one final example that showcases both of the strategies in this chapter.
3x 01±+5
A) —6 02
5 —6x2 5
3x 5 —6x2 I IX 5
x
3x(ax + 2) + 1) — —6x2 + 11 x + 5
—6x2 IIX 5
Comparing the coefficients of the x2 term on either side, 3a 6. Therefore, a —2. Answer (B) .
64
D) 12
C) 10
D) 12
1 1
If — — , what is x in terms of p and y?
py
C)
p¯Y
py
D)
1 1
If 1, what is the value of x?
65
11
A) -42
B) —36
C) -30
D) 42
12
4 2 35
(x 3 kx2 — 3) — 2) ¯ 18x2
Ifx > 1, what is the solution to the equation
above?
In the equation above, k is a constant. If the
equation is true for all values of x, what is the
value of k?
10
66
There are two main ways of solving systems of 2 equations: substitution and elimination.
Substitution
Substitution is all about isolating one variable, either x or y, in the fastest way possible.
Taking the example above, we can see that it's easiest to isolate y in the first equation because it has no
coefficient. Adding 5x to both sides, we get
y—5x 7
We can then substitute the y in the second equation with 5x 7 and solve from there.
Elimination
Elimination is about getting the same coefficients for one variable across the two equations so that you can add
or subtract the equations, thereby eliminating that variable.
Using the same example, we can multiply the first equation by 2 so that the y's have the same coefficient (we
67
don't worry about the sign because we can add or subtract the equations).
-lox + 2y — 14
-12
—lox + 2y — 14
-12
—13x —26
Now, we can see that x 2. This result can be used in either of the original equations to solve for y. We'll pick
the first equation.
-10(2) + 2y — 14
-20 + 2y — 14
6
When solving systems of equations, you can use either method, but one of them will typically be faster. If
you see a variable with no coefficient, like in —5x + y —7 above, substitution is likely the best route. If
you see matching coefficients or you see that it's easy to get matching coefficients, elimination is likely the best
route. The example above was simple enough for both methods to work well (though substitution was slightly
faster). In these cases, it comes down to your personal preference.
No solutions
A system of equations has no solutions when the same equation is set to a different constant:
—4
The equations above contradict each other. There is no x and y that will make both of them true at the same
time. The system has no solution. Note that
6x + 4y -8
also has no solution. Why? Because the second equation can be divided by 2 to get the original equation.
68
ax — 12y — 15
We must get the coefficients to match so that we can compare the two equations. To do that, we multiply the
second equation by —4:
—ax 12y — 15
-16x 12y 8
See how the —12's match now? Now let's compare. then we get our two contradicting equations
with no solution. One is set to 15 and the other is set to 8.
Infinite solutions
A system of equations has infinite solutions when both equations are essentially the same:
5) are all solutions to the system above, to name just a few. Note that
3x +2y=5
also has an infinite number of solutions. The first equation can be divided by 2 to get the same equation as the
second.
EXAMPLE 2:
ny -€32,
Both equations need to be the same for there to be an infinite number of solutions. We multiply the first
12x- 20y 32
mx — ny = 32
69
Word problems
You will most definitely run into a question that asks you to translate a situation into a system of equations.
Here's a classic example:
number of
Let x be the students who ordered burgers and y be the number who ordered salads. We can then
make two equations:
x +Y 30
5x +6y — 162
Make sure you completely understand how these equations were made. This type of question is guaranteed
to be on the test.
We'll use elimination to solve this system. Multiply the first equation by 6 and subtract:
6x -F 6y 180
5x + 6y = 162
18
70
EXAMPLE 4:
(x, y) IS a solution io the systemo%f equations above and y > O; whatis the valueofy?
In the first equation, we isolate y to get y —3x. Plugging this into the second equation,
76
x2 + 2(9x2) — 76
x2 + 18x2 76
19x
2 — 76
x2
EXAMPLE S:
2y
2
+ 2)'s lying around in both equations. This is a hint that there might be a clever substitution
Notice the (x
somewhere, especially for a problem as complicated as this one. Isolating y in the first equation,
1 1
From here, Why would I want this form? So I can substitute in the second equation with
2
As you do these tougher questions, you must keep an eye out for any simplifying manipulations such as this
one.
71
Substituting, we get
2
1 1
-6—0
2
2 2
-6=0
24—0
—o
How will you know whether there's a clever substitution or "trick" you can use? Practice. And even then,
you won't always know for sure. Just keep in mind that SAT questions are designed to be done without a
crazy number of steps. So if you feel like you're running in circles or hitting a wall, take a step back and try
something else. To get a perfect score, you must be comfortable with trial and error.
Here's the trick. Multiply all three equations. Multiply the left sides, and multiply the right sides. The result
is
x2y2z2 = 400
Square root both sides.
xyz =
Notice how we were able to get the answer without knowing the values of x, y, or z.
72
Graphs
Learning a bit about equations and their graphs will inform our understanding of systems of equations.
The solutions to a system of equations are the intersection points. Therefore, the number of solutions to a
system of equations is equal to the number of intersection points.
Take, for example, the system of equations at the beginning of this chapter:
—3x — 2y -12
You can change both equations into y mx + b form (we won't show that here) to get the following lines.
The solution to the system, (2, 3), is the intersection point. There is only one intersection point, so there is only
one solution.
Graphing the following system, which has no solution because its equations contradict each other,
—1
we get
What do you notice about the lines? They have no intersection points. They're parallel. Makes sense,
right?
73
2y
y
It's just one line! Well, actually it's two lines, but because they're the same line, they overlap and intersect in
an infinite number of places. Hence, an infinite number of solutions.
'EXAMPLE 7:
A system b oequatiOpSänd theirgraphs in the xy+ane are shown above. How many Solutions(does
thesystqn
C)Three D)Foue
Simple. The graphs intersect in two places so there are two solutions. Answer (B)
74
-11
If (x, y) satisfies the system of equations above,
x—i-3y what is the value of x + y?
A)
B)
D) 10
C)
D)
3x +Y
-10
y + 2x— 20 If (x, y) is a solution to the system of equations
6x -5y — 12 above, what is the value of xy?
A) —16
What is the solution (x, y) to the system of
equations above?
D) (7,6)
3x -4y 21
— — 14
A) -18
75
Y x2 +1 2x 4y=8
A) Zero
B) One
C) Two
D) More than two
x
2x — 5y = a
A system of two equations and their graphs in —8
the xy-plane are shown above. How many
solutions does the system have?
In the system of equations above, a and b are
A) Zero constants. If the system has infinitely many
solutions, what is the value of a?
B) One
C) Two
D) Three 1
D) 16
3
4
76
11 14
1 3x - 61/ 15
—2x + 4y -10
— 4 x + 16
How many solutions (x, y) are there to the
What is the solution (x, y) to the system of system of equations above?
equations above?
A) Zero
A) (-2,8) B) One
B) (-1, 12) C) Two
C) (1, 20) D) More than two
D) (3, 28)
15
12
mx —6y — 10
y o.5x + 14 2x ny =5
-18
In the system of equations above, m and n are
According to the system of equations above, constants. If the system has infinitely many
what is the value of y?
solutions, what is the value of —?
n
1
12
1
3
4
3
13
1 1
—x
3 6 16
6x — ay 8
19
18
B)
— 30 B) 16
59 C) 20
D) 24
— 30
2x — 5y 59
30
5x — 2y 59
78
For example,
Do we have to reverse the sign at any point? Well, we would subtract by 3 to get 2x < 6 and then divide by
2 to get x < 3. Yes, we did a subtraction but at no point did we multiply or divide by a negative number.
Therefore, the sign stays the same.
The first step is to combine like terms. We subtract both sides by 4x to get the x's on the left hand side. We then
subtract both sides by 5 to get the constants on the right hand side:
3x — 4x < 4 —5
Notice that the sign hasn't changed yet. Now, to get rid of the negative in front of the x, we need to multiply
both sides by —1. Doing so means we need to reverse the sign.
This concept is the cause of so many silly mistakes that it's important to reiterate it. Just working with negative
numbers does NOT mean you need to change the sign. Some students see that they're dividing a negative
number and impulsively reverse the sign. Don't do that. Only reverse the sign when you multiply or divide
both sides by a negative number.
79
27
4x < -20
—5
At no point did we multiply or divide by a negative number so there was no need to reverse the sign. We
divided a negative number, —20, but we did so by a positive number, 4.
So how do we solve these "two-inequalities-in-one" problems? Well, we can split them up into two inequalities
that we can solve separately:
-21+3 < 15
-2x +3 15
—2x < 12
80
The total amount of sugar he gets from cookies is 5c. The total amount of sugar he gets from fruit salads is 7s.
So his total sugar intake for any given day is 5c + 7s, and since it can't be more than 40 grams, 5c + 7s < 40.
Answer (D) .
From a graphing standpoint, what does an inequality look like? What does it mean for y >
Y
As shown by the shaded region above, the inequality y > —x — 1 represents all the points above the line
x — you have a hard time keeping track of what's above a line and what's below, just look at the
1. If
y-axis. The line cuts the y-axis into two parts. The top part of the y-axis is always in the "above" region. The
bottom part of the y-axis is always in the "below" region. If the graph doesn't show the intersection with
the y-axis, you can always just draw your own vertical line through the graph to determine the "above" and
"below" regions.
Also note that the line is dashed. Because y > —x — 1 and NOT y x — 1, the points on the line itself do
not satisfy the inequality. If the equation were y > x 1, then the line would be solid, and points on the line
would satisfy the inequality.
81
When it comes to graphing, the goal is to find the region with the points that satisfy the system. In this case,
1
we want all the points below y — x + 4 but above y — —x — 3. We can shade the regions below y —
2
1
and above y —x — 3 to see where the shaded regions overlap. The overlapping region will contain all the
2
points that satisfy both inequalities.
The overlapping region on the left represents all the solutions to the system.
Setting the two equations equal to each other and solving gives the intersection point, which, in this case,
happens to be the solution with the highest value of x.
— 14
4.66
—3
At x 4.66, y — —4.66 4 0.66 (we get this from the first equation). Therefore, (4.66, —0.66) is the solution
with the highest value of x. There are no solutions in which x is 5, 6, or larger.
While finding the intersection point in this example may have seemed a bit pointless (haha!), these points can
be very in the context of a given situation, such as finding the right price to maximize profit or
figuring out the right materials for a construction project.
82
EXAMPLE 4;
111
First, graph the equations, preferably with your graphing calculator. Then shade the regions and find the
overlapping region.
*iiiF
As you can see, the overlapping region, which contains all the solutions, is the top region. It has points in
EXAMPLE 5: Ecologiscs have determined that the number of frogs y must be greater than or equal to three
times the number of snakes x for a healthy ecosystem to be maintained m a particular forest. In addition;
the number of frogs and the number of snakes must sum to at -least 400.
PART 1: Whith of the following systems of inequalities expresses these conditions for a healthy ecosystem?
83
Part 1 Solution: The number of frogs, y, must be at least three times the number of snakes, x. So, y 3x. The
number of frogs and the number of snakes must sum to at least 400, so y + x > 400. Answer (C)
Part 2 Solution: In these types of questions, the intersection point is typically what we're looking for, but we'll
graph the inequalities just to make sure. First, put the second inequality into y mx + b form.
Y —x + 400
The graph confirms that y, the number of frogs, is at a minimum at the intersection point. After all, the
overlapping region (the top region) represents all possible solutions and the intersection point is at the bottom
of this region, representing the solution with the minimum number of frogs.
We can find the coordinates of that intersection point by solving a system of equations based on the two
lines.
400
x 100
100 is the x-coordinate. The y-coordinate is y 3x 3(100) 300. The intersection point is at (100, 300) and
the minimum number of frogs is in a healthy ecosystem.
84
A)
If —x —4 > x — 10, which of the following
must be true?
A) x < 24 B)
B) x > 24
C) x < -24
C)
D) x > —24
D)
A) n+10<mfn-10
B) m -10 10
C) n S m IOn
D) —
10
< n < 10m
85
16 8
8 16
86
10
80
> 1, 100
x 10 x
C)
D)
fözz:
11 13
B) I and II only
C) 11 and 111 only
D) 1, 11, and 111
C) 10
D) 12
14
12 20 9
If what is one possible
3 2'
earnings?
A) 3m + 2 < 30 Joyce wants to create a rectangular garden that
has an area of at least 300 square meters and a
25m + 40p 900
perimeter of at least 70 meters. If the length of
A) 70
C) + — < 30
x +y 300
25m + 40p 900
B) xy 150
D) + 900
D) xy 300
x +y 35
88
16
I. a2 < b2
11. 2a < 2b
Ill.
A) II only
B) I and II only
89
E PLE l•åhesumof threeconsecutive vers•s 72, What is the t ofthesé three integer
The most important technique in solving word problems is to let a variable be one of the things you don't
know. In we don't know any of the three integers, so we let the smallest one be
this problem, x. It doesn't
matter which number we set as x, as long as we're consistent throughout the problem.
72
— 72
3x — 69
x —23
23, 24, 25
90
What if we had let x be the largest integer? Our three integers would've been
72
3x -3 — 72
75
x — 25
And because x was set to be the largest of the three integers this time, we're already at the answer!
On SAT word problems, think about which unknown you want to set as a variable. Often times, that unknown
will be what the question is asking for. Other times, it will be an unknown you specifically choose to make
the problem easier to set up and solve. And sometimes, as was the case in Example 1, it doesn't matter which
unknown you pick; you'll end up with the same answer with the same effort.
EXAMPLE(2•, One number is times anothegtnumberv Ifth y Sunyt044, what the larger of the two
numbers?
In this problem, we want to set x to be the smaller of the two numbers. That way, the two numbers can be
expressed as
x and 3x
x
x and
3
x + 3x 44
44
x —11
Be careful—we're not done yet! The question asks for the larger of the two, so we have to multiply x by 3 to
get 33 .
.027
91
Let x be Albert's age now. We could've assigned x to be Henry's age, but as we mentioned earlier, assigning the
variable to bewhat the question is asking for is typically the faster route. Now at this point, some of you might
be thinking of assigning another variable to Henry's age. While that would certainly work, it would only add
more steps to the solution. Try to stick to one variable unless the question clearly calls for more.
If Albert is x years old now, then Henry must be x — 7 years old.
Five years from now, Albert will be x + 5 and Henry will be x — 2 years old.
x +5 2(x — 2)
The problem already gives us a variable t to work with. We want to equate Jake's distance run with Amy's.
Jake's distance: 60t
Amy's distance: 120(10) + 20(t — 10)
60t 120(10) + 20(t - 10)
60t — 1,200 + 20t - 200
— 1, ooo
t = 25
Let x be the number of scientists. Then the number of microscopes is , the number of centrifuges is —, and
x
the number of freezers is
52
= 52-12
13x — 624
x — 48
92
books. •If Kevin owns Wmore books than how many books does Lori own?
Let x be the total number of books. Mark then has —x books and Kevin has —x books. Kevin owns 9 more than
Mark, so
1 1
—x
3 4
3x — 108
x 108
The total number of books is 108. Mark owns x 108 27 books and Kevin owns x 108 36 books. Lori
EXAMPLE 8vA•group of friends wants to split the costOf rentinbä cabin equally. Ifeach friend pays $130
tOoniiCch. If ea@h friend pays $120, tbeywill have $50 too little it
"toarentthe eabifi?
We have two unknowns in this problem. We'll let the number of people in the group be n and the cost of
renting a cabin be c. From the information given, we can come up with two equations (make sure you see the
reasoning behind them):
13011 - 10
12011 + 50 c
In the first equation, 130n represents the total amount the group pays, but because that's 10 dollars toomuch,
we need to subtract 10 to arrive at the cost of rent, c. In the second equation, 120n represents the total amount
the group pays, but this time it's 50 dollars too little, so we need to add 50 to arrive at c. Substituting c from
the first equation into the second, we get
120n + 50 130n 10
-IOn 60
93
The answer is NOT 20. You can't just take 10% of the green jellybeans away because as you do that, the total
number of jellybeans also goes down. We first find that there are x 200 — 140 green jellybeans. We need to
10
remove x of them so that 60% of what's left is green:
140 x 6
200 x 10
Cross multiplying,
10(140 - x) — 6(200
1,400 - lox — 1,200 — 6x
200 4x
x — 50
EXAMPLE I(kA1togeffver, a. 120 baseballcards. David gives Robert one thim of his
and ff1enÄ0noreéar4s ednöwhaefive times as many cards.as Dåvid, Mow many card' did
"tiraveori9nally±
Solution 1: This question is really tough and tricky. When David gives Robert some of his cards, David loses
at the same time Robert gains. We could set a variable for David and another variable for Robert, but that
solution is a little messier (see Solution 2).
Instead, let's work backwards. If x is the number of cards David ends up with, then Robert ends up with 5x
cards. Because there are 120 cards altogether,
x + 5x — 120
6x = 120
x — 20
So David has 20 cards and Robert has 100 cards at the end. Let's rollback another transaction. David had
given Robert 10 cards. So before that happened, David must have had 20 + 10 = 30 cards. Rollback another
transactionand we see that David had given a third of his cards away to get down to the 30 that we just
calculated. Well if he had given away a third, then the 30 he had left must have represented two-thirds of the
cards he had at the start. Let d be the number of cards David had at the start.
2
-d 30
3
90
d 45
94
So David had 45 cards at the start, which means Robert must have had 120 — 45—@cards at the start.
120
1
y + _x + 10 -x - 10)
3
— 120
x 30 15x 150
x 120
9x - 3y — 180
At this point, we can use substitution or elimination. I'm going to use substitution. From the first equation,
x 120 — y. Plugging this into the second equation,
9(120 - y) — 180
-12y
y 75
95
On a 100 cm ruler, lines are drawn at 10, X, and Susie buys 2 pieces of salmon, each weighing x
98 cm. The distance between the lines at X and pounds, and 1 piece of trout, weighing y
98 cm is three times the distance between the pounds, where x and y are integers. The salmon
lines at X and 10 cm. What is the value of X? cost $3.50 per pound and the trout cost $5 per
pound. If the total cost of the fish was $77, which
of the following could be the value of y?
96
11
The Pirates won exactly 4 of their first 15 games. Ian has 20 football cards, and Jason has 44
They then played N remaining games and won baseball cards. They agree to trade such that
all they won exactly half of all the
of them. If Jason gives Ian 2 baseball cards for every card
games they played, what is the value of N? Ian gives to Jason. After how many such trades
will Ian and Jason each have an equal number of
cards?
B) 10
C) 11
D) 12
12
Alice and Julie start with the same number of
pens. After Alice gives 16 of her pens to Julie, If 3 is subtracted from 3 times thenumber x, the
Julie then has two times as many pens as Alice result is 21. What is the result when 8 is added to
does. How many pens did Alice have at the half of x?
start?
A) 1
D) 12
13
10
At a store, the price of a tie is k dollars less than
At a Hong Kong learning center, of the three times the price of a shirt. If a shirt costs $40
and a tie costs $30, what is the value of k?
students take debate, — of the students take
A) 60
B) 66
C) 72
D) 78
97
14
A) 40
B) 45
C) 48
D) 54
15
A) 15
B) 20
C) 30
D) 40
98
Given any two points (Xl, Yl) and (x2, Y2) on a line,
rise Y2 Yl
Slope of line
run X2 ¯ Xl
The slope is a measure of the steepness of a line—the bigger the slope, the more steep the line is. The rise is the
distance between the y coordinates and the run is the distance between the x coordinates. A slope of 2 means
2
the line goes 2 units up for every 1 unit to the right, or 2 units down for every 1 unit to the left. A slope of
means the line goes 2 units down for every 3 units to the right, or 2 units up for every 3 units to the left.
Lines with positive slope always go up and to the right as in the graph above.
rise
run
x
99
EXAMPLE 1:
The line shown in the xy-plane atxwe passes through the origin and point (a,b), where a > b. Which of
following could be the of the line?
rise
First, notice that the slope is positive. The slope, , is also equal to
b rise
a run
Since > b. is always less than L For example, if 5 and b 3, the slope would be The only choice
EXAMPLÉ 2: Linem passes through points 7) and (3 If the slope ofline m is 3Ävhat is the
value of k?
Slope
3-k
100
—3
k 11
k — 11 — 9 — 3k
4k — 20
EXAMPLE 3: If alinehas a slope of and passes through the point (1, which of the followingpomts
also lies on the line?
F) 1) P) (4, 10)
A slope of — means 1 up for every 3 to the right, or I down for every 3 to the left. If we go 3 to the left, the point
we get to on the line is( 2, —3). If we go 3 to the right, the point we get to on the line is (4, —1), answer (C) .
In this case, we got to the answer pretty quickly, but if we hadn't, we would have continued moving right or
left until we found an answer choice that matched. On the SAT, it shouldn't ever take too long to arrive at the
answer for a question like this.
In addition to slope, you also need to know what x and y intercepts are. The x-intercept is where the graph
crosses the x-axis. Likewise, the y-intercept is where the graph crosses the y-axis.
2x + 3(o) — 12
12
The x-intercept is 6.
2(O) +3y — 12
3y = 12
The y-intercept is 4.
101
!XAMPLE4; Jf the line ax $3yea 15, wherea is constant; has an x-intercepiihat iS 9nce the Vålue of
is they@lue of a t'
3y 15
The y-intercept is 5, which means the x-intercept must be 5 >< 2 10. Plugging in x = 10,y = o,
a(10) + 3(O) — 15
IOa — 15
a 1.5
y — mx + b
where m is the slope and b is the y-intercept. So for the line y 2x 3, the slope is 2 and the y-intercept is
—3:
x
2 1 o
While can be expressed in slope-intercept form, sometimes it'll take some work to get there. If you're
all lines
given a slope and a y-intercept, then of course it's really easy to get the equation of the line. But what if
we're handed a slope and a point instead of a slope and a y-intercept? Then it'll be more convenient to use
point-slope form:
y Yl m(x Xi)
where (Xl, Yl) is the given point. For example, let's say we want to find the equation of a line that has a slope
of 3 and passes through the point (1, —2). The equation of the line is then
Once it's in point-slope form, we can then expand and shift things around to get to slope-intercept form if we
102
need to.
— 3(x —1)
y+2
y 3x —5
ÉXÅMPLÉS;
To get the equation of the line y — mx + b, we need to find the slope m and the y-intercept b. The line crosses
the y-axis at 3, so b = 3. The line goes downward from left to right, down 1 for every 2 to the right, so the slope
1
m is —— . Therefore, the equation of the line is y — — —x + 3. Answer (C)
2
EXAMPLE 67A line I passa through the points ($2, 3)'and (O, 13b What is the ywintercept OfJin$: l?
Y2 ¯ Yl 13 3
Slope
y 13 20-3)
Note that we could've used the other point (—2, 3). The result will turn out to be the same.
Y 13 -3)
y 2x —6+ 13
After putting the equation into slope-intercept form, we can easily see that the y-intercept is Ø.
103
EXAMPLE Tifthelin
To find the point where two lines intersect, put them in y — mx + b form and set their equations equal to
each other. You're essentially solving a system of equations using substitution. In this case, the two lines are
already in y mx + b form. Setting them equal to each other,
31 -5 -2x + 10
5x — 15
Two lines are perpendicular if the product of their slopes is 1. In other words, if one slope is the negative
104
3
3 2
Because it's perpendicular to line m, line n must have a slope of . Using point-slope form,
3
—x +6+3
2
3
2
We get the equation into slope-intercept form to see that the answer is
Finally, you'll need to know the equations of horizontal and vertical lines. The equation of the vertical line that
passes through x 3 is, well, x 3.
y —3
105
—3
3 C) (9, 10)
—3 D) (12, 11)
EUäää" x
aasz:s
x
o
Note: Figure not drawn to scale. The graph of line I is shown in the xy-plane
above. Which of the following is an equation of
In the figure above, the slope of the line through
a line that is parallel to line I?
106
Y ax b
1
—bx
B) mb<O
A calculator is allowed on the following C) nib —O
questions.
D) mb—l
2
What is the slope of the line m in the figure 1
above?
2
2
1
The slope of line I is — and its y-intercept is 3.
4
1
What is the equation of the line perpendicular to
line I that goes through (1, 5)?
2
—2x + 7
1 11
2 2
1 9
2 2
107
10
D) 10
11
12
a
Y b
108
1:ÄhevalueV;; In dollars/ of a .hGe from 2006 to 2015 can be estimated by the equation.
V —240000 T is thenumbér Ofyears Since 2006.
PART 2: Which the following >est d+cribes of the number 58000 in the equation?
Part 1 Solution: Many of these questions will give you an equation in y — mx + b form. The y-intercept b will
typically designate an initial value, the value when x = 0. In this case, the y-intercept is 240,000 and it describes
the value of the home when T = 0, zero years after 2006, which, of course, is 2006. Answer (A)
Part 2 Solution: Again, we're dealing with an equation of the form y — mx + b. The slope m always designates
a rate, the increase or decrease in y for each increase in x. In this case, the slope is —5, 000, which means the
value of the home decreases by 5,000 for each year that goes by. Answer (B)
109
It's important that you don't get tricked into choosing a rate that looks right but ultimately doesn't fit the
context setby the variables x and y (in this case, T and V). Answer (A) is wrong because we're not dealing
with the number of homes sold; we're dealing with the value of a home. Answer (D) is wrong because the
numbers in the equation aren't on a per-square-foot basis. Always be aware of the variables you're working
with.
Part 1 Solution: This question is essentially asking for the change in h for every 1 unit increase in x. This is
the slope. From the equation, we can see that the slope is —, or [O$] To make this even clearer, we can put the
4
equation into y mx + b fortn by splitting up the fraction: h — —x + —. Note that when we're dealing with
5
changes in x and y, the y-intercept b is irrelevant because it's a constant that's always there.
Part 2 Solution: Because this question is asking for the change in x for every 1 unit increase in h, the reverse of
Part 1, we need to rearrange the equation so that we have x in terms of h.
41 +6
5
5 3
—h
4 2
Now we can see that x increases by —, or@$l, when h increases by 1. The answer is just the slope of our new
equation. A shortcut for this type of question is to take the reciprocal of the slope of the original equation. The
reciprocal of — is
EXAMPLE
_Ä can OC90dæis put mto temperature mof the soda, indegrees VahrerOig$i ganbe 'found by
using wheregn is thenumber ofminutes the can Kay been üqareere is the m
decrease Ifie tentperature for everyS minutes the can is effin•the•'
The slope of —6 represents the change in the temperature for every 1 minute the can is left in the freezer. So
for every 5 minutes, the temperature of the soda decreases by 5 x 6 =@degrees Fahrenheit.
110
D) Increases by 100 feet C) The site was able to get 500 members
without any available videos.
D) The site gains 500 new members for every
200 additional videos available on the site.
B) The bakery sells 18 loaves of bread each teaspoons of honey. What is the meaning of the 2
hour. in the equation?
C) The bakery sells a total of 18 loaves of bread A) For every teaspoon of honey in the
each day. beverage, two more teaspoons of sugar
D) There are 18 loaves of bread left in the should be added.
bakery at the end of each day. B) For every teaspoon of honey in the
beverage, two fewer teaspoons of sugar
should be added.
111
p — 2,OOOS 15,000
An antique lamp was sold at an auction. The
A state government uses the equation above to price p of the lamp, in dollars, during the
estimate the average population p for atown auction can be modeled by the equation
with s Which of the following best
schools. p = 900 10t, where the number of seconds
t is
describes the meaning of the number 2,000 in the left in the auction. According to the model, what
equation? is the meaning of the 900 in the equation?
A) The average number of students at each A) The starting auction price of the lamp
school in a town The final auction price of the lamp
B)
B) The average number of schools in each C) The increase in the price of the lamp per
town second
C) The estimated increase in a town's
D) The time it took to auction off the lamp, in
population for each additional school seconds
D) The estimated population of a town
without any schools
112
10
2x +9 11
5
The equation above models the time t, in What does the slope of the line represent?
seconds, it takes to load a web page with x A) The price of each cake
images. Based on the model, by how many B) The profit generated from each cake sold
seconds does each image increase the load time
C) The daily profit generated from all the
of a web page?
cakes that were sold
12
113
13 15
B) Each cake must be sold for at least 5 dollars amount of water y, in gallons, that should be
to cover the cost of making it. held in the tank for x turtles to thrive alongside
Alice's frog. Based on the equation, which of the
C) It costs 5 dollars to make each cake.
following must be true?
D) Each day, the bakery gives the first 5 cakes
away for free. I. One additional gallon of water can support
two more turtles.
II. One additional turtle requires two more
gallons of water.
Ill. One more turtle requires an additional half
14
a gallon of water.
T= 56 + 5k A) II only
B) 111 only
To warm up his room, Patrick turns on the
heater. The temperature T of his room, in C) I and II only
degrees Fahrenheit, can be modeled by the D) I and Ill only
equation above, where h is the number of hours
since the heater started running. Based on the
model, what is the temperature increase, in 16
degrees Fahrenheit, for every 30 minutes the
heater is turned on? c— 1.5 + 2.5x
A local post office uses the equation above to
determine the cost C, in dollars, of mailing a
shipment weighing x pounds. An increase of 10
dollars in the mailing cost is equivalent to an
increase of how many pounds in the weight of
the shipment?
B) 2.5
114
f(x) - x2 +1
every input is squared and then added to one to get the output. It's important to understand that x is a
completely arbitrary label—it's just a placeholder for the input. In fact, I can put in whatever I want as the
input, including values with x in them:
f(2x) (2x)2 1
f (Panda) (Panda)2 +1
Notice the careful use of parentheses. In the first equation, for example, (2x)2 is not the same as 2x2. Wrap the
input in parentheses and you'll never go wrong.
1 +2+9+64
76
115
LEE
lox +25
*ZFor Whåt value Of$i$ the funcüOn fabove und 7
Because we can't divide by 0, a function is undefined when the denominator is zero. Setting the denominator
to zero,
x
2
- lox +25 — O
Whenever you see composite functions (functions of other functions), start from the inside and work your way
out. First,
g(2) = 2+3=5
Now we have to figure out the value of f (5).
Well, we can plug in x = 6 into f (x — 1) 6x to get f (5) 6(6)
Again, we start from the inside and work our way out:
g(k+l) 2
2 2
Finally,
+1 10
2
k +1 18
17
As we've mentioned, a function takes an input and returns an output. Well, these input and output pairs allow
us to graph any function as a set of points in the xy-plane, with the input as x and the output as y. In fact,
y x2 + 1 is the same as f (x) — x2 + 1. Both f (x) and y are the same thing—they're used to denote the output.
The only reason we use y is that it's consistent with the y-axis being the y-axis.
116
Anytime f (x) used in a graphing question, think of it as the y. So if a question states that f (x) > 0, all y
is
values are positive and the graph is always above the x-axis. It's extremely important that you learn to think
EXAMPLE 5;
The grkph of fÆ(xj is shown in the xy-plane above: For what valueof xis
Again, when it comes to graphs, interpret f (x) as the y. This question is asking for the point on the graph with
the highest y-value. That point is (5, 4). The x-value there is 5 .
XAMPLE 6; If the fundtio@with equation åx2 + 300sses the point (J, 2), what is the valUe Of g ,
Remember—a point is just an input and an output, an x and a y. Because (1, 2) is a point on the graph of the
function, we can plug in 1 for x and 2 for y.
EXAüPLh 7: If the function x2.+ ix •84 contams the pomt (m, im) and m What,ßihevalueofs»
It's important not to get intimidated by all the variables. The question gives us a point on the graph, so let's
plug it in.
2m = m +2m —4
0 tn2 —4
From here we can see that m— ±2. The question states that m > 0, so m 2
117
EXAMPLE
aster
P RT&Ä-iow manykdi'ånqtt
1...95
Part 1 Solution: The graph crosses the x-axis three times, so f has@distinct zeros. From the graph, we can
see that these zeros are —2, 1, and 3.
Part 2 Solution: This question is quite involved, so don't panic if you feel lost during the explanation. Read
all the way through and then go back to the bits that were confusing. I promise you'll be able to make sense of
everything.
To truly understand this question, first realize that a constant is just a function. No matter the input, we always
get the same output. In this question, we can write it as y k or g(x) — k. So let's say k -3. What does
—3 look like? A horizontal line at —3!
4
2
x
-1 O
Now when a question asks for the solutions to f (x) = k, it's merely referring to the intersection points of f (x)
and the horizontal line y = k. In general, if a question sets two functions equal to each other, f (x) g(x), and
asks you about the solutions, it's referring to the intersection points. After all, it's only at the intersection points
that the value of y is the same for both functions. In this particular case, g(x) just happens to be a constant
function, g(x) = k.
118
The number of solutions is equivalent to the number of intersection points. So if k 3 as shown above, there
must be 3 solutions to f (x) 3, as represented by the 3 intersection points. The solutions themselves are the
x-values of those points. We can estimate them to be —2.2, 1.6, and 2.6.
Getting back to the original problem, we have to choose a k such that there is only one solution. Now we're
thinking backwards. Instead of being given the constant, we have to choose it. Where might we place a
horizontal line so that there's only one intersection point? Certainly not at —3 because we just showed how
that would result in 3 solutions.
Well, looking back at the graph, we could place one just above 8 or just below —4. Horizontal lines at these
values would intersect with f (x) just once. Looking at the answer choices, 9 is the only one that meets our
Let's take a moment to revisit part 1. In part 1, we found the number of intersection points between f (x) and
the x-axis. But realize that the x-axis is just the horizontal line y 0. In counting the number of intersection
points between f (x) and the horizontal line y 0, what you were really doing is finding the number of
solutions to f (x) 0.
If you didn't grasp everything in this example the first time through, it's 0k. Take your time and go through
it again, making sure you fully understand each of the concepts. The SAT will throw quite a few questions at
you related to the zeros of functions as well as the solutions to f (x) g(x).
Hopefully by now, you're starting to see constants as horizontal lines. So for instance, if f (x) > 5, that means
the entire graph of f is above the horizontal line y 5. Thinking of constants in this way will help you on a
lot of SAT graph questions.
119
O)
g:
Although the given function looks complicated and you might be tempted to graph it on your calculator, this
is the easiest question ever! All you have to do is find a point that's certain to be on the graph and eliminate
the graphs that don't have that point. So what's an easy point to find and test?
Plug in x 0 to get y 1. Now which graphs contain the coordinate (0, 1)? Only graph (B)
By the way, numbers like 0 and 1 are particularly good for finding "easy" points to use for this strategy.
120
x 2
o 20
1 21 34 3 2 4 5
3 29
—2
The table above displays several points on the
graph of the function f in the xy-plane. Which of 4
the following could be f (x)?
20x
B) —3
2
D) 1
f(x)
g(x)
Y
x
O
A) None
B) One
The function f is graphed in the xy-plane above.
C) Two
For how many values of x does f (x) = 3?
D) Three
A) Two
B) Three
C) Four
D) Five
121
For which of the following functions is it true Iff(x) = x2, for which of the following values of
2 1
x 2
3
x
3 3
2
10
The function f is defined by f (x) 3x + 2 and If the graph of the function f has x-intercepts at
the function g is defined by g(x) = f(2x) — 1. 3 and 2, and a y-intercept at 12, which of the
What is the value of g(10)? following could define f?
A) f(x)
B) f(x) — (x -4-3) (x —
C) f(x) (
D)
11
16 + x2 f(x) = x2 + 1
If f (x) — for all x 0, what is the value
of f (—4)?
The functions f and g are defined above. What is
the value of f(g(2))?
C) 10
D) 17
x 0 1 2
f(x) —2 3 18
A) 23
B) 39
C) 43
D) 56
122
12
c) f(6)
x D) f(7)
-3 o 3
A)
13
B)
C)
x f(x)
3 D)
-2 5
2
16
2 16
3 4
Let the function g be defined by g(x) — 3x. If
4 8
6, what is the value of a?
D) 12
123
20
x f (x) g(x) 1 —8
-2 3 4 2 3
-1 5 2 3 6
o —2 4 7
1 3 5 5 2
2 6 7 6 4
3 7 1
7 5
The functions f and g are defined for the six values Several values of the function f are given in the
of x shown in the table above. table above. If the function g is defined by
g(x) f(2x 1), what is the value of g(3)?
17
A) 2
21
f (x) 4x —3
18 g(x) = 3x+5
B) g(3)
C) g(5)
19
124
22 24
x
x 2 1 O i 2
—2
The graph of the function y — 9 — shown in
x2 is
23
25
2
125
To review quadratics, we'll walk through a few examples to demonstrate the various properties you need to
know.
QUAD TICIV
The Roots
The roots refer to the values of x that make f (x) = 0. They're also called x-intercepts and solutions. We'll
mainly use the term "root" in this chapter, but the other terms are just as common. Don't forget that they all
mean the same thing. Here, we can just factor to find the roots:
x2 -4x 21
The roots are 7 and —3. Graphically, this means the quadratic crosses the x-axis at x 7 and x = -3.
126
b
Given a quadratic of the form y — ax2 + bx + c, the sum of the roots is equal to and the product of the roots
a
b —4
Sum
a 1
-21
Product — —21
a 1
See how we were able to determine these values without knowing the roots themselves? The roots that we
found earlier just confirm our values.
The Vertex
The vertex is the midpoint of a parabola.
x
-3 O 7
vertex
The x-coordinate of the vertex is always the midpoint of the two roots, which can be found by averaging them.
Because the roots are 7 and —3, the vertex is at x — 2. When x 2, f (x)
-21 — -25.
2
Therefore, the vertex is at (2, —25). Note that the maximum or minimum of a quadratic is always at the vertex.
In this case, it's a minimum of —25.
Vertex Form
Just as slope-intercept form (y mx + b) is one way of representing a line, vertex form is one way of representing
a quadratic function. We've already seen two different ways quadratics can be represented, namely standard
form (y = ax2 + bx + c) and factored form (y — (x — a) (x b)). Vertex form looks like y a(x + k.
To get a quadratic function into vertex form, we have to do something called completing the square. Let's walk
through it step-by-step:
y x2 — 4x — 21
See the middle term? The —4. That's the key. The first step is to divide it by 2 to get —2. Then write the
following:
2
21
See where we put the —2? The first part is done. Now the second step is to take that —2 and square it. We get
4.
2
- 21 —4
See where we put the 4? We subtracted it at the end. The vertex form is then
127
To recap, divide the middle coefficient by 2 to get the number inside the parentheses. Subtract the square of
that number at the end. Completing the square takes some time and practice, so if you didn't catch all of this,
first prove to yourself that it is indeed the same quadratic by expanding the result. Then repeat the process of
completing the square yourself. If you've been taught a slightly different way, feel free to use it. We'll do many
more examples in this chapter.
Now why do we care about vertex form? Well, look at the numbers! It's called vertex form for a reason. The
vertex —25) can be found just by looking at the numbers in the equation. But we already found the vertex,
(2,
you but we had to find the roots to do so earlier, and finding the roots is not always so
say! Yes, that's true,
easy. Vertex form allows us to find the vertex without knowing the roots of a quadratic. It's also very much
tested on the SAT!
2
One final note—one of the most common mistakes students make is to look at y (x 2) 25 and think the
vertex is at (—2, —25) instead of (2, 25). One pattern of thinking I use to avoid this mistake is to ask, What
value of x would make the thing inside the parentheses zero? Well, x 2 would make x 2 equal to 0. Therefore, the
vertex is at x — 2. This is the same type of thinking you would use to get the solutions from the factored form
Y— (x — a)(x b).
The Discriminant
If a quadratic is in the form ax2 + bx + c, then the discriminant is equal to b2 — 4ac. As we'll explain later, the
discriminant is a component of the quadratic forrnula. Before we explain its significance, let's calculate the
discriminant for our first example,
f (x) x2 — 4x — 21
Discriminant b — 100
Now, what does the discriminant mean? Well, the value of the discriminant does not matter. What matters is
the sign of the discriminant—whether it's positive, negative, or zero. In other words, we don't care that it's
100, we just care that it's positive. Letting D be short for discriminant,
When D > O, When D O, When D < O,
x
x
o
there are two real roots (two solutions). there is one real root. there are no real roots.
128
But if we must find the roots, there is always one surefire way to do so—the quadratic formula.
—b b2 — 4ac
f(x) — x2 — 4x — 21
4 ± 100 4 10
3
2(1) 2 2
Hopefully, the quadratic formula helps you understand where the discriminant and its various meanings come
from. Understanding this connection will help you remember the concepts.
Now that we've taken you on a thorough tour through the properties of quadratics, we'll go through a few
more examples to illustrate some important variations, but we'll do so at a much faster pace.
:3.i0S:• •
QUADRAm1C
The Roots
This quadratic cannot be factored. And in fact, if we look at the discriminant,
b2 — 4ac
it's negative, which means there are no real roots or solutions. The graph of the quadratic makes this even
more clear:
x
O
When the coefficient of the x2 term is negative, the parabola is in the shape of an upside-down "U."
129
f(x) - — X2 + 6X — 10
b 6
Sum
a —1
-10
Product — 10
a —1
Wait, what!? We already determined that there were no roots. How can there be a sum and a product of roots
have any real roots, but it does have imaginary roots. The values
that don't exist? Well, the quadratic doesn't
above are the sum and product of these imaginary roots. We'll cover imaginary numbers in a later chapter.
Vertex Form
Because the roots are imagmary, we can't use their midpoint to find the vertex. In these cases, we must get the
quadratic in vertex form. We'll have to complete the square.
— x2 + — 10
First, multiply everything by negative 1 to get the negative out of the x2 term. Having the negative there makes
things needlessly complicated. We'll multiply everything back by —1 later.
¯Y — x2 — 6x + 10
Divide the middle term by 2 to get —3 and square this result to get 9. Remember that we put the —3 inside the
parentheses with x and subtract the 9 at the end. Putting these pieces in place,
QUAPRATIC
The Roots
We can factor this quadratic to get
2x2 + 5x -3 —o
—o
x = 05 3
The roots are 0.5 and —3. If you don't know how we factored this, unfortunately teaching factoring from the
ground up is not within the scope of this book. Don't be afraid to look up factoring lessons and drills online
and in your textbooks. It's an essential skill to have. Just know that all methods involve a little trial and error.
130
b 5
Sum -2.5
a 2
Product — -3
—1.5
a 2
The Vertex
Averaging the two roots to find the x-coordinate of the vertex,
The vertex is at (—1.25, —6.125). Because the quadratic opens upward in the shape of a "U," the maximum
value of f (x) is —6.125.
Vertex Form
y — 2x2 + 5x -3
First, divide everything by 2. Before completing the square, always make sure the coefficient of x2 is 1. We'll
multiply the 2 back later.
5 3
2 2
25
Divide the middle term by 2 to get and square this result to get —
16
We put the inside the parentheses with
25
x and subtract the —
16
at the end.
3 25
2 2 16
49
2 4) 16
Multiplying by 2,
49
45)2 8
y 2(x+ 1.25)2
- 6.125
This is consistent with the vertex found above.
131
The Discriminant
For the sake of completeness, let's calculate the discriminant. Hopefully, it will confirm the fact that this
quadratic has two distinct real roots.
y — 2x2 + 5x — 3
Discriminant — b2 — 4ac 49
The discriminant is positive, which confirms the fact that this quadratic has two real roots.
AUADRATIC4.—
— 121 +9
The Roots
We could factor this, but let's use the quadratic formula instead.
3
As you can see, the discriminant is 0 and the quadratic has just one root,
b —12
Sum
a 4
c 9
Product
Ifwe only have one root, how is it that we can have a sum and a product of two roots? Why are they different
from the one root we found?
Here's the thing. While we may say a quadratic has just one root, it really has two roots that are the same.
After all, a quadratic, with an x term, is expected to have two roots. When they're the same, we just refer to
them as one.
9
So our "two" roots are — and —. If we add them, we do indeed get 3, and if we multiply them, we do get
4
The Vertex
When a quadratic has just one root, the x-coordinate of the vertex is the same as the root. That's because a
quadratic is tangent to the x-axis when it has one root.
x
o 3
2
132
3
The y-coordinate is, of course, 0. Therefore, the vertex is at —,0 The minimum value of f (x) is 0.
2
Vertex Form
y 4x2 -12x+9
First, divide everything by 4. Before completing the square, always make sure the coefficient of x2 is 1. We'll
multiply the 4 back later.
2 9
— 3x +
4 4
3
Divide the middle term by 2 to get and square this result to get We put the inside the parentheses
2
9 9
4 4 4
Multiplying by 4,
32)2
Wow! We just covered pretty much everything you need to know about quadratics. Unfortunately, we're not
quite done yet as there are a few tough question variations that you should be exposed to.
Whenever you're finding the intersection of two graphs, you're essentially solving a system of two equations.
You're looking for an x and a y that will satisfy both equations. Typically, you just set the equations equal to
each other, much like we did when we were trying to find the intersection of two lines in the chapter on lines.
It's the same as substituting the second equation (the line) into the first equation (the parabola):
3x - 10 x — 5x 6
0 16
To find the y, we plug x 4 into either of the original equations: y 3(4) — 10 2. Therefore, the point of
133
We're dealing with intersections again! So what do we do first? Treat it as a system of equations. We plug the
second equation into the first.
10
Now we could go ahead and solve this to find the intersection point(s) like we did in the previous example, but
there's a faster way. For the purposes of this question, we don't care where the intersections are. We just want
to know how many there are.
Sound familiar? We can use the discriminant to do that.
The discriminant is positive, which means there are 2 solutions to the equation we set up above. If there are 2
solutions to the equation above, there must be intersection points. To summarize, we didn't bother finding
the two values of x. They could've been x 2 and x — 100 for all we care, and the intersection points might've
been (2, 5) and (100, 6). It doesn't matter. What mattered was that there were two of them, and we used the
discriminant to determine that. If the discriminant were 0, there would only be one intersection point. And if
the discriminant were less than 0, there would be no intersection points.
Make sure you understand this question. Feel free to go back and figure out where the intersection points
actually are (Hint: It's not fun. You'll need the quadratic formula. Be glad you know how to use the discriminant).
EXAMPLES
11 +
of equations a asonstant.yorcwhieh of $he following values Of & does the system
EEOf e4U@tions have no
First, we get y k from the first equation and substitute this into the second equation,
If the system of equations has no real solution, then the equation above should have no real solution. The
discriminant should be less than 0.
Now we test each of the answer choices to see which one results in 5 + 4k being negative. Only —2, answer
These questions are some of the toughest you'll see on the SAT, especially when you can't use your calculator.
Go back and make sure you understand them.
134
Anytime you see a quadratics question with the words maximum or minimum, either figure out the vertex
or look for vertex form. After all, the vertex is where the maximum or minimum occurs. In fact, the answer is
either (C) or (D) because those are the only ones in vertex form. Furthermore, with a little calculation, it's easy
to see that (D) does not expand to be the original equation, so the answer is (C).
However, for learning purposes (and for the tougher questions), I'll show you how to do this question in two
different ways. We can find the vertex using the average of the roots and then reverse engineer the vertex form.
Or we can transform the equation into vertex form directly.
Solution 1: To find the roots, we set the equation equal to 0 and factor,
-IOOn2 + 1, OOOn O
-IOOn(n - 10) = O
n = O, 10
The roots are 0 and 10, which means the x-coordinate of the vertex is 5. Now we can plug 5 into p(n) to find
the y-coordinate.
p(5) + 1, 000(5) 2, 500
So the vertex is at (5, 2500). Now remember what vertex form looks like: y = a(x — + k. Given our values,
we have
p(n) - + 2, 500
We now need to find what a is. To do that, we need another point to work with. Well, it's easy to see that p(n)
passes through the point (0, 0). Plugging that in,
O - + 2,500
o 25a + 2, 500
-25a — 2,500
a -100
Solution 2: This second method involves completing the square to get the vertex form directly. First, divide
everything by —100 to ensure the coefficient of 112 is 1.
Do you remember what to do next? If we wrote the constant 0 at the end, the "middle" term would be — Ion.
Divide the —10 by 2 to get —5 and square that to get 25. The —5 belongs inside the parentheses with n and the
135
p(n) 2
25
136
Reviewee
Given a quadratic Of the form, y ax2 + bx +
The also called $01utions and x-intercepts, can be .found in the following ways:
• Factoring
—0 .02 4ac
• The quadratic formula x
2a,
b
Sum of the Roots
a
Take the average of the roots to get the x-coordmate. Then plug that value into the quadratic to get"
the y-coordinate€
a a
b2
2. Divide thecoefficient Of the middle term to get Square that result to get Put
4a2 Oa
inside the parentheses wi$h x and subtract 4a2 at thé end
2
b c b2
a 2ti a 4a2
3. Multiply everything by a.
2a
4. It's unnecessary to memorize these steps with the variables. Practice on quadratics withActual
numbers. uowever, do remember what vertex form looks like: y a(x — +
Whenever you're asked for the minimum orthe maximum of a quadratic, find thewertex,
137
D) 16
D) 10
B) x=2+2Vi
6
If a < 1 and 2a2 7a +3 0, what is the value
Of a?
—3
138
10
11
—3
y ax +4x—4
In the system of equations above, ais a constant.
A)
B) -2
Which of the following equations represents the
parabola shown in the xy-plane above?
A) y — (x 3)2-8
B) y — (x +3)2 +8
12
8
f(x) - —x2 + 6x + 20
The function f is defined above. Which of the
following equivalent forms of f (x) displays the
maximum value of f as a constant or coefficient?
139
y = a(x — 3)(x — k)
In the quadratic equation above, a and k are
constants. If the graph of the equation in the
xy-plane is a parabola with vertex (5, —32), what
is the value of a?
14
140
grade.
18 R 2 x2 + 3x 2
356 x 1 x3 + 2x2 5x + 1
I'll teach you the long "mathematical" way first, but then direct you towards several shortcuts that will get
you through almost any synthetic division question on the SAT without using the long way. These questions
rarely show up, and if they do, they'll show up only once.
Let's retrace the steps of dividing 56 by 3 so you can see how the same logic applies to synthetic division.
First, we see that 3 goes into 5 once. We put a I on top and a 1 x 3 3 below the 5. We then subtract to get 2
and bring the 6 down.
356
3
26
Now how many times does 3 go into 26? 8 times. So we put an 8 up top and a 3 x 8 24 below the 26.
Subtracting, we get 2.
18
356
3
26
24
2
At this point, there are no more digits to bring down and 3 does not go into 2. Therefore, 3 goes into 56 eighteen
times with a remainder of two. This result can be written in the following form:
56 2
18
3
The process of dividing a polynomial is essentially the same. To show you how synthetic division works, let's
divide x3 + 2x2 — 5x + 1 by x — 1.
How many times does x — 1 go into x3? x2 times. Why? Because x x x2 = x3. The goal is to match x3. We
don't care about the —1 during this "fitting in" step. Now, (x — 1) x x2 x3 — x2. This is what we put below
the dividend.
x2
x —1 x3 + 2x2 5x + 1
x3 x 2
Finally, we subtract like we do in basic number division. Notice that we must subtract each element, so the —x2
becomes +x2, yielding 3x2. Unlike in long division with numbers, all the remaining terms from the dividend
should be brought down for each step in synthetic division.
x2
x I 2x2 5x + 1
x3 x2
3X2 5x + 1
Next step. How many times does x — 1 go into 3x2? 3x times. Remember our goal at each step is to get
the same exponent and the same coefficient as the term with the highest power. We put the +3x up top and
3x x (x 1) 3x2 — 3x on the bottom.
x2 + 3x
x I x3 2x2 5x + 1
3x2 5x + 1
3x2
And just like last time, we subtract each term, not just the first. We then bring down the 1.
x2 + 3x
x —1 x3 + 2x2 5x + 1
x3 x2
312 5x + 1
3 X2 3x
142
We're almost done. How many times does x — 1 go into . —2 times. So a —2 goes up top and
—2x + 2 goes on the bottom.
x + 3x 2
X3 + 2x2 5x + 1
x3 x2
3X2
2
3x 2
2
x 5x 1
3 2
x x
3x 2 1
3X2 3x
56
We know we're done when we end up with a constant. And just as we can express as 18 , a mixed fraction,
3
we can express
x3 + 2x2 1
as x2 + 3x — 2
Notice where each component is placed. The quotient is written out in front. The remainder, —1, is the
numerator of the fraction and the divisor, x — 1, is the denominator. These placements are exactly the same as
in long division with actual numbers. Get used to seeing synthetic division results in this format.
Here's another thing that's the same. The result of our long division with numbers
18 R 2
356
means that 56 =3 x 18 -I- 2.
x3 +2x2 -5x +1 —1
Dividend Quotient >< Divisor + Remainder
Hopefully you've been able to grasp synthetic division more intuitively through the comparison with regular
long division. All the parts relate to each other in the same way. Let's dive into some more examples where
we can show you some shortcuts.
143
6x + 12
17
17
The quotient is 6 and the remainder is — 17. We can write this result as 6 Answer (A)
Now how would we approach this question without using synthetic division?
17 17 24 17 7
6 6
4 4 4 4
This confirms that the answer is indeed (A). This strategy of making up numbers and testing each answer
choice can be much faster than synthetic division.
3x2 + 4
3x + 4
If you followed along, you should've noticed it got a little clunky when we subtracted the —3x and brought
the 4 down. That's because the dividend, 3x2 -l- 4, has no x terrn. Still, the process is the same: subtract and
bring the remaining terms down.
144
3x2 +4 7
The quotient is 3x + 3 and the remainder is 7. The result can be expressed as 3x +3+ . Now
it's easy to see that A 3x + 3, answer (C) .
3x2 +4
— 16
we didn't know the answer was (C), we would test each answer choice with x
If 2 until we got 16, but since
we do know, we'll test (C) first for confirmation. Letting A 3x + 3,
7 7
3(2) 3 — 16
Answer confirmed.
5x + 6
2
1
5x2 lox
6x 12
13
13
We can write the result of this division as 5x + 6 + from which B
This last example is perfect for demonstrating a shortcut called the remainder theorem, which allows us to get
the remainder without going through synthetic division.
just something in the form of ax + b, the remainder can be found by plugging in to the polynomial the value
of x that makes the monomial equal to 0. The process sounds more complicated than it is, so let's show how
it's done.
13
145
1
What makes 2x — 1 equal to zero? x —
2
4 2
1
4 -3
2
R represents the remainder after dividing 2x2 — 5x + 1 by x — 3. Using the remainder theorem, we can plug in
x — 3 into 2x2 — 5x + 1 to get the remainder.
- 5(3) +1 18 -15+1 4
One last thing about the remainder theorem. Let's say that we divide x2 — 3x + 2 by x 2. Plugging in 2, we
see that the remainder is
(2)2
Since the remainder is 0, x — 2 is a factor of x2 — 3x + 2, just like 3 is a factor of 18. And indeed, if we factor
x2 — 3x + 2,
(x — 2)(x 1)
Do note that the remainder theorem only works when we're dividing by monomials like x + 1. If we were
dividing x3 + 1 by something like x2 + 2, we would have to use synthetic division. Fortunately, the SAT will
never ask you to do that.
146
•re(x) — —
In the polynomial fCx) defmed above, k •ns.a. consianå. Iff (i) is divisible by x—2, what isthe value of k?
If f (x) is divisibleby x 2, then the remainder is 0 when f (x) is divided by x — 2. In other words, x — 2 is a
factor of f (x). The remainder theorem tells us that when we plug 2 (the value that makes x — 2 equal to zero)
into f (x), we should get 0.
—o
—o
24 4k + 10 + 2 —o
36 4k —O
—36
Answer (B)
EXAMPLE 6.
The table aboye gives the value b/polynomialp(x) for some VAIue$ Of:x, Which
The remainder theorem makes this question easy. Because p ( 1) = 0, x -F 1 must be a factor of p(x). Answer
(A) . Be careful—the answer is NOT x — 1.
you found this chapter confusing, feel free to skip over it and come back. It's hard to make sense of synthetic
If
if you haven't encountered it before. It won't show up more than once, if at all, so don't let it keep
division
you from reviewing other topics.
147
1
form + Q, what is Q in terms of x?
A) 3x-1
2z3 — kxz2 + 5xz + 2x — 2
148
10
II. x 1
111. X +3
When 3x2 — 8x — 4 is divided by 3x — 2, the
8 A) I and II only
result can be expressed as A What is A and only
3x—2• B) 1 111
11
B) 2x+2 12
13
A) 3x-1
B) 3x+1
For a polynomial p(x), p(2) 0. Which of the
following must be true about p (x)?
A) 2x is a factor of p(x).
B) 2x —2 is a factor of p(x).
C) x — 2 is a factor of p(x).
D) x +2 is a factor of p(x)
149
.2
-1
3
4
i 1
.5
.6
—1
7
8
i —1
The results repeat in cycles of 4. You can use the fact that i4 1 to simplify higher powers of i. For
example,
50 2 2
1 —1
When i isused in an expression like 3 + 2i, the expression is called a complex number. We add, subtract,
multiply, and divide complex numbers much like we would algebraic expressions.
(2 -3i) = 3+5i -2 + 3i —1 + 8i
Answer (C)
150
Expanding,
(4 + i) (5 - 2i) = 20 - 8i + 5i - 212 20 _ 3i + 2 — 22 - 3i
Answer (B) .
When you're faced with a fraction containing i in the denominator, multiply both the top and the bottom of
the fraction by the conjugate of the denominator. What is the conjugate, you ask? Well, the conjugate of 1 +i
is 1 — i. The conjugate of 5 — 4i is 5 + 4i. To get the conjugate, simply reverse the sign in between.
In this example, we multiply the top and the bottom by the conjugate 1 i.
(1 —i) 2 - 2i + 3i - 3i2 2 i — 31
•2
I—i+i_ p 2
The whole point of this process is to eliminate i from the denominator. The absence of i in the denominator is
a good indicator that things were done correctly. The answer is (D)
151
equivalent to (5 3i)
B) 12
B) 3+2i
C) 22
D) 34
A) 16 - 5i
C) —4 + Ili
16 Ili
152
12
Which of the following complex numbers is Which of the following complex numbers is
B) 8+6i 3 4
5 5
C) 10 -6i
4
D) 10 i
B) 1 —i
5
5 4
3 3
4
D) 1
3
Which of the following is equal to the expression
above? (Note: i — —1)
A) 14 -7i
B) 14- 23i
C) 26+7i
D) 26 23i
10
11
—1)
5
C)
4
153
egervaluesofrx €4?
Think of the possible numbers that work and don't forget the negative possibilities. Every integer between —3
and 3 works, a total of integer values.
We could've also solved this problem algebraically. Any absolute value equation like the one above can be
written as
EXAMPLE Of satisfy]$ 5?
Here we go through the same process. The largest possible integer for x is 3 and the smallest is —5. So
—5 x 3, a total of 9 possibilities.
Solving algebraically,
-5 < x+1<5
Subtracting 1,
Trick question. The absolute value of something can never be negative. There is no solution, answer (D)
154
In these types of absolute value word problems, start with the midpoint of the desired interval, 17 in this case,
and subtract it from w: lw 171.Think of this as the "distance," or "error," away from the midpoint of the
interval. We don't want this "error" to be greater than 1 since w would then be outside the desired interval. So
We can confirm this answer by solving the inequality. Remember that the end result should be 16 < w < 18.
Let's see if our answer gives us that result when we isolate w.
lw 171 < 1
-1 < w 17<1
Adding 17,
16 <w< 18
See how the graph changed? Taking the absolute value of any function makes all the negative y-values become
positive y-values (points in the quadrants Ill and IV are reflected across the x-axis). All the positive y-values
stay where they are. This V-shape is the classic absolute value graph that you should be able to recognize.
155
A table of values is another way to see this absolute value transformation. If f(x) — 2x, then compare f (x)
with If
x —3 -2 —1 0 1 2 3
f(x) —6 -2 o 2 4 6
If(x) I
6 4 2 o 2 4 6
The negative values of f (x) become positive and the positive values of f (x) stay positive.
(C)
Y
The entire function is enclosed inan absolute value and since the absolute value of something can never be
negative, y must always be greater than or equal to 0. In other words, the graph must lie on or above the x-axis.
That eliminates (A) and (B). In fact, (A) is the graph of 2x — 1 without the absolute value. To get the answer, we
take all the points with negative y-values in the graph of (A) and reflect them across the x-axis so that they're
One great tactic that's worth mentioning here is narrowing down the answer choices by obtaining points that
are easy to calculate. For example, if we let x = 0, then y I2(O) - II 1. The point (0, 1) must then be on
the graph, eliminating (A) and (B). Letting y 0, we now find that (0.5, 0) must also be on the graph. This
eliminates (D) because (D) has two x-intercepts whereas the graph should only have one.
156
B) lx-21-6
D) lx+61-2
C) 12
D) 20
A) y = -lxI-2
xl-2
D) Ix-21
157
A) —10
B) 10
C) 2b— 10
D) 10-2b
The graph of the function f is shown in the
xy-plane above. Which of the following could be
the graph of the function y If (X) l?
1
A) h
B) 4
1
B) h
2
1
x C) h
4
1
D)
4
C)
10
A) II < -4001 10
B) -4051 >
II 5
x
C) 11+4051 < 5
D) -4051 <
II 5
158
11
20
B) -15
D) —1
12
1
1.
a
II. a < 1
111. a > 1
A) 111 only
B) I and II only
159
bo
xo
An exterior angle is always equal to the sum of the two angles in the triangle furthest from it. In this case,
EXAMPLE 1:
160
ZDCE must be 800. Now there are a lot of ways to do this, but using the exterior angle theorem is the
fastest:
80 x 3x
80
X 40
Parallel Lines
No need to memorize these terms. You just need to know that when two parallel lines are cut by another line,
there are two sets of equal angles:
12 — 13 — Z6 — 17
'EXAMPLE
Here is the fastest way: Z ACE Z ABF 400 because they are corresponding angles (AC cuts parallel lines
161
Polygons
Triangle Quadrilateral Pentagon Hexagon
As you can see from the polygons above, each additional side increases the sum of the interior angles by 1800.
For any polygon, the sum of the interior angles is
So for an octagon, which has 8 sides, the sum of the interior angles is 180(8 — 2) 180 x 6 — 10800
A regular polygon is one in which all sides and angles are equal. The polygons shown above are regular. If
our octagon were regular, each interior angle would have a measure of 10800 —8 — 1350. •
The 180(n 2) forrnula comes from the fact that any polygon can be split up into several triangles by drawing
lines from any one vertex to the others.
The number of triangles that results from this process is always two less than the number of sides. Count for
yourself! Because each triangle contains 1800, the sum of the angles within a polygon must be 1800 (n — 2),
where n is the number of sides.
162
EXAMPLE
The total number of degrees in a pentagon is 180(5 — 2) 5400. So each interior angle must be 5400 +5 = 1080.
The angles within the triangle formed by the intersecting lines must be 180 — 108 720.
1080
720
1080 720
163
a bo
m
k0 1
In the figure above, i 50 and k — 140. What is In the figure above, lines and m are parallel.
I
the value of j?
What is the value of a + b + c + d?
A) 60 A) 270
B) 360
B) 70
C) 80 C) 720
D) It cannot be determined from the
D) 90
information given.
600
x
500 400
Note: Figure not drawn to scale. Note: Figure not drawn to scale.
In the figure above, what is the value of y? In the figure above, if x = 40, what is the value
of y?
A) 30
A) 40
B) 40
B) 50
C) 50
C) 80
D) 70
D) 90
164
m 450
800
In the figure above, lines and
I m are parallel.
What is x in terms of a and b?
700
300
450
C) 55
D) 80
165
(x + 40)0 xo
C) 75
D) 80 In the figure above, a rectangle and a
quadrilateral overlap. What is the sum of the
degree measures of the shaded angles?
10
A) 360
B) 540
C) 720
D) 900
800
12
1300
166
13 15
1
400
1
450
600
m
m
n
I. a 3b
In the figure above, lines l, m, and n are parallel.
What is the value of a + b?
111. b 45
A) Ill only
B) I and II only
14
700
1000
A) 10
B) 20
C) 30
D) 50
167
10
1
1
Can you make a triangle with any 3 sticks? No. In this case, the two shorter pieces don't connect.
10
If you had sticks of size 5, 5, and 10, they would connect but only by just enough to make a straight line.
5 5
10
So to make a triangle, the lengths of any two sticks must add up to be greater than the third. To say it more
mathematically,
For any triangle, the sum of any two sides must be greater than the third.
a+b>c
b
If the sum of two sides turns out to be equal to the third, it's enough to make a line, but NOT a triangle.
168
3+4 > x
3 x
which simplify to
Now if x > 1, then it's always going to be greater than —1. In other words, only the first and second matter.
Therefore, 1 < x < 7, and there are possible integer values of x.
c
Because AB AC, ZC — LB.
In an equilateral triangle, all sides have the same length. Because equal sides imply equal angles, the angles
are all 600.
600
600 600
169
ÉXÅMPLEä:han asoscelesånangléy one of angles has ineasttre of What is the degree measure
of the greatest possible angle the triangle?
An isosceles triangle has not only two equal sides but also two equal angles. There are two possibilities for an
isosceles triangle with an angle of 500. Another angle could be 500, making a 50 — 50 80 triangle, or the other
two angles could be equal, making a 50 65 — 65 triangle. Given these two possibilities,@fl is the greatest
possible angle in the triangle.
EXAMPLG 3:
Solution 1: There are 3 smaller triangles within the equilateral one. Each of these triangles has a total degree
measure of 1800, for a combined total of 1800 x 3 5400. We need to subtract out ZACB to get what we want.
Solution 2: Because AABC is equilateral, both j and o are 600. Because k and I form a straight line, they add
up to 1800. Because m and n also form a straight line, they also add up to 1800. Adding up all our values, we
get 600 —I— 1800 + 1800 + 600 4800 .
Right Triangles
Right triangles are made up of two legs and the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle).
Every right triangle obeys the pythagorean theorem: a2 + b2 c2, where a and b are the lengths of the legs and
c is the length of the hypotenuse.
170
EXAMPLE
20
has of length 20. Ifthe base •of åie rectang!eis -twice as long as the heighi,
whåt IS •tKe
eat O, O:
The diagonal of any rectangle forms two right triangles. Let the height be x and the base be 2x. Using the
pythagorean theorem,
x2 + (2x)2 = 202
12 + 4x — 400
2
x — 80
x 80 4v/S
If you take the SAT enough times, what you'll find is that certain right triangles come up repeatedly. For
example, the 3 — 4 — 5 triangle:
5
3
A set of three whole numbers that satisfy the pythagorean theorem is called a pythagorean triple. Though not
necessary, it'll save you quite a bit of time and improve your accuracy if you learn to recognize the common
triples that show up:
5, 12, 13
7, 24, 25
8, 15, 17
171
450
450
The best way to think about this triangle is that it's isosceles—the two legs are equal. We let their lengths be x.
The hypotenuse, which is always the biggest side in a right triangle, turns out to be times x.
We can prove this relationship using the pythagorean theorem, where h is the hypotenuse.
2x 2
I show you these proofs not because they will be tested on the SAT, but because they illustrate problem-solving
concepts that you may have to use on certain SAT questions.
The second is the 300 — 600 — 900:
600
2x
x
300
Because 300 is the smallest angle, the side opposite from it is the shortest. Let that side be x. The hypotenuse,
the largest side, turns out to be twice x, and the side opposite 600 turns out to be v/ä times x.
One common mistake students make is to think that because 600 is twice 300 , the side opposite 600 must be
twice as big as the side opposite 300. That relationship is NOT true. You cannot extrapolate the ratio of the
sides from the ratio of the angles Yes, the side opposite 600 is bigger than the side opposite 300, but it isn't
twice as long.
172
We can prove the 30 — 60 — 90 relationship by using an equilateral triangle. Let each side be 2x (we could use
x but you'll see why 2x makes things easier in a bit):
600
600 600
Drawing a line down the middle from B to AC creates two 30 — 60 — 90 triangles. Because an equilateral
triangle is symmetrical, AD is half of 2x, or just x. That's why 2x was used—it avoids any fractions.
300
600 600
x c
x2 + BD2 (2x)2
BD2 (2x)2 — x2
BD2 = 4x2 — x2
BD2 3x2
173
EXAMPLE 5:
450
450
B)2Vi
Using the 45 — 45 90 triangle relationship, AC (the hypotenuse is times greater than each
EXAMPLÉ 6:
10
300
In the figure above, AD DC, LB 300, and AB 10. What is the ratio of AC to CB?
B) D) 3
Because AD DC, A ADC is not only isosceles but also a 45 — 45 — 90 triangle. AADB is a 30 — 60 — 90
triangle with a hypotenuse of 10. Using the 30 — 60 — 90 relationship, AD is half the hypotenuse, 5, and
DB 5Vj. Using 45-45-90 relationship, = 5vé, DC 5, and CB DB DC — 5V3 5.
5v/i
1
Answer
174
Similar Triangles
When two triangles have the same angle measures, their sides are proportional:
Because DE is AC in the figure above, ZBED is equal to ZBCA. That makes ADBE similar to
parallel to
AABC. In other words, ADB E is just a smaller version of AABC. If we draw the two triangles separately and
give the sides some arbitrary lengths, we can see this more clearly.
5
10 4
8
6 c
The sides of the big triangle are twice as long as the sides of the smaller one. Even if the lengths change, the
ratios will remain the same:
AB AC BC
BD DE BE
175
EXÄMPLE 7:
c
Note: Figure notdrawn to scale,
B)
25
Part 1 Solution: Because DE and AC are parallel, Z BDE is equal to Z BAC and Z BED is equal to ZBCA.
Therefore, ABDE and ABAC are similar. Setting up our ratios,
DE
AC
3 6
5
Cross multiplying,
3AC 30
10
Part 2 Solution: When two triangles are similar, the ratio of their areas is equal to the square of the ratio of
their sides. The ratio of the sides is 3 : 5. Squaring that ratio, we get the ratio of the areas, 9 : 25. Answer (D)
176
Radians
A radian is simply another unit used to measure angles. Just as we have feet and meters, pounds and
kilograms, we have degrees and radians,
radians 1800
If you've never used radians before, don't be put Off by the After all. s just a number. We could've
written
3.14 radians z 1800
instead, but everything is typically expressed in terrns of when we*re working with radians. Furthermore,
3.14 is only an approximation. So, given the conversion factor above, how would we convert 450 to radians?
radians
450 x. — radians
1800 4
Notice that the degree units (represented by the little circles) cancel out just as they should in any conversion
problem. Now how would we convert to degrees? Flip the conversion factor.
37T 1800
radians x
2 7t radians
You might be wondering why we even need radians. Why not just stick with degrees? Is this another difference
between the US. and the rest of the world, like it is with feet and meters? Nope. As we'll see in the chapter on
circles, some calculations are much easier when angles are expressed in radians.
EXAMPLE
y
In the xy-plane above, line m passes through one origin and has a slope of If point A lies line m
and point B lies on x-axis as shown, what is tneasure. in radians, of angle AOB?
177
We can draw a line down from A to the x-axis to make a right triangle. Because the slope is v/6, the ratio of the
height of this triangle to its base is always to 1 (rise over run).
x
1
This right triangle should look familiar to you. It's the 30 60 — 90 triangle. Angle AOB is opposite the v/ä, so
its measure is 600. Converting that to radians,
600 x
1800 3
Answer (D) .
178
x
The lengths of the sides of a right triangle are x, 6
x — 2, and x + 5. Which of the following
equations could be used to find x?
D) 6N/6
10
600 600
c
3
Note: Figure not drawn to scale.
D
In ABDC above, what is the length of DC? 6
c
179
triangle?
A) I only
B) Ill only
C) II and Ill only 2
and 111 3
D) 1, 11,
180
10 12
2
1
The lengths of three sides of a triangle are x, y, A calculator is allowed on the following
and z, where x y z. If x, y, and z are integers questions.
and the perimeter of the triangle is 10, what is
13
the greatest possible value of z?
4
77T
6
571
4
37T
2
181
14 16
9
6 5
B 9
15
C) 650
D) 600
182
18 20
z
20
x
12
What is the value of x in the triangle above?
x 15
A) 12 21
17
B x c
C) 18
D) 19
19
A z
35 B) 4v6
What is the perimeter of the trapezoid above?
A) 100
B) 108
C) 112
D) 116
183
22 23
B(m, n)
B(-2, -3)
12
4
184
24 25
600
450
450
37T
C)
47T
57T
26
37T
185
27 29
A triangle has one side of length 5 and another The sides with positive area have
of a triangle
side of length 11. Which of the following could lengths 5, 7,The sides of a second triangle
and a.
be the perimeter of the triangle? with positive area have lengths 5, 7, and b.
1. 20
Which of the following is NOT a possible value
of la b]?
11. 26
111. 30
A) II only
B) I and II only
C) II and Ill only D) 10
30
28
c
186
31 33
57T
D) 3 10 3
77T
4
32
97t
5
In AABC, AB — BC 6 and ZABC 1200.
117T
What is the area of AABC? D)
6
A) 2v6
O 4 c
187
35
12
c) 3v"ä
D) 4Vä
36
D 3
188
Areaof a circle:.Ttr2
Central angles have the same measure as the arcs that they "carve out."
Many student$ confuse arc length with Atc measUre'The atc•length is;the actual distance One Would travél
along the circle from A to B. Arc meaSureiSthe number Of degrees one turns through from to Yo
canihin&of it as a rotation along the circlefrom A to B, full rotation is 360%
inscribed angles are half the measure of the arcsthat they icarve oue.jj
189
Angles inscribed in @ semicircle are always 900. This is just an extension Of the previous fact. An angle
inscribed in a semicircle carves out half a circle, or 1800 , which means the angle itself is half that, or
EXAMPLE 1;
TO the figure above/the outercircle'sradius is twice as long as the inner circle's. What is the ratio of the
area Of the shaded region to theatea of the unshaded region?
190
Let the radius Of the inner circle be Then the radius Of the outer circle is 2r.
Shaded 3Ttr2
Unshaded
EXAMPLE Z
c 2
A)å-Vi c)E2
To get the shaded area, we must subtract the area of the triangle from the area of the sectore
450
Area of sector: —nr2 — —n(22) —
Area of triangle: Draw the height from point A to base CB. This makes a 45 45 — 90 triangle. Because AC is
2
also a radius* its length is 2. Using the 45 — 45 — triangle relationship, the height is then
Area — bh
191
EXAMPLE 3:
1209M
Agirgle With a diameter of 10 is shown in the figure above. If ZAQB 1200 , what is the length of minor
arc
1200 107T
(27Tr) — —(27T X 5) —
3600
EXÅMPLE 4:
In the figure above, ZACB is inscribed m circle O, What is the measure of angle.ÄCB?
A) 150 B) 300 C)450 D)600
The measure of minor arc AB is the same as the measure of central angle ZAOB, 900. Inscribed angle ACB is
half of that, 450. Answer (C)
192
;EXAMPLEB:,
y?A42y...31
ascircie thexyolåne ISViven above.ÄMhat are the of the-center/f the ctrclei
To get the equation of the circle in the standard form (x + (y r2, we have to complete the square
twice, once for the x's and once for the y's. If you don't know how to complete the square, you should review
the quadratics chapter, which contains many examples of how to do it. Starting with x,
x — —4 + Y2 +2y = 31
Then y,
1=31
36
From the standard form, we can see that the center is at (2, —1) and the radius is 6. Answer (D)
193
4
7tr
2
Which of the following is an equation of a circle
2 in the xy-plane with center (—2, 0) and an area
of 49m?
4
A) 7
B) 7
2
49
49
A) 367T
B) 497T
C) 647T
D) 817T
194
300
c
c
1 B) 37T
3 C) 47T
1
D) 67T
B)
4
1
6
1
12
c
6
9
57T
195
11
C) 727T
D) 8171
12
10
A) 16 47T
A) 107T
B) 127T
B) 64
87T C) 147t
C) 64
D) 157T
D) 64 167T
196
13
A) 11 only
B) 111 only
C) I and II only
Note: Figure not drawn to scale.
D) 1, 11, and 111
A) 15
B) 30
C) 45
D) 60
14
D) 16
197
13
5
x
12
It's important to see these trigonometric functions as if they were just ordinary numbers. After all, they're just
ratios. For example, sin 300 is always equal to . Why? Because all right triangles with a 300 angle are similar.
4
2
2
1
300 300
Many students over-complicate trigonometry because they treat sin x, cos x, and tan x differently than regular
numbers. Perhaps because of the notation, students sometimes make mistakes like the following:
sin 2x
sin 2
x
198
The above is not possible because sin2x is one "entity" You cannot separate sin and 2x and treat them
independently just like you can't separate f (x) info f and x.
The definitions of sine, cosine, and tangent are best inemo,rized through the acronym SOH-CAH-TOA;S
for sine (opposite over hypotenuse), C for cosine (adjacent over hypotenuse), and T for tangent (opposite
over adjacent)
Aside from the definitions, you should also memorize the following very important identity:
sinx ccxs(900
COSX sin(900 X)
Expressed in •
Now, the sign of each of the trig functions depends on the quadrant in which the angle terrninates.
11 1
111
These are best memorized through acronym ASTC (All Studcmts Take Calculus). All the functions are
positive in the first quadrant, only sine is positive in the secondi and so on.
199
2. Add or subtract multiplesof909 from«theangle Cor radians) until you get an angle in the first
quadrants
Since 3300 is in the fourth quadrant and sine is negative in the fourth quadrant, the result should be
negative. Subtracting 900 from 3300 until we get an angle in the first quadrant, we end up with 330
270 600. Using the 30—60 90 triangle,
600
2
1
300
sin 600
opp
hyp 2
Since 1350 is in the second quadrant and cosine is negative in the second quadrant, the result should be
negative. Subtracting 900 from 1350, we get 450. Using the 45 — 45 — 90 triangle,
450
450
adj 1
cos 450
hyp 2
200
Since 2100 is in the third quadrant and tangent is positive in the third quadrant, the result should be
positive. Subtracting 900 from 2100 until we get an angle in the first quadrant, we end up with 210
180 = 300. Using the 30 — 60 — 90 triangle shown earlier,
tan 300
3
1 •cos
fann.•u tanA)Ø un ed
4
2
—tan —undefined
201
C) 90 —a
D) av/ä
In a right triangle, one angle measures xo such If tan x — m, what is sin x in terms of m?
that tan xo = 0.75. What is the value of cos xo? 1
m2 + 1
1
B)
1 — m2
m
C)
m2 + 1
m
D)
1 — m2
B) 2 sin O
C) 2coso 5
D) 2(sin0 + cos 0)
c
202
cos 32 — sin 5m 12
A calculator is allowed on the following
questions. In the equation above, the angle measures are in
degrees. If 00 <m< 900, what is the value of m?
c 10
C(12, -3)
203
11
C) 2sine
sin 0 cos 0
D)
2
12
11.
2
37T
111.
2
A) I only
B) II only
204
205
Commute Times 80
90 75 Congressional Election
Presidential Election
c 70
75
o 65
E 60 60
e 55
45
50
30 8 45
40
15 35
30
oo
15 30 45 60 75 90 O
o O
O o o o o
Commute Time to Work 01
Year
For four work days, Alex plotted the commute
time to work and the commute time from work in The graph above shows the voter turnout for
the grid above. For which of the four days was each year a congressional election or a
the total commute time to and from work the presidential election was held. In which two
greatest? year period was the difference in voter turnout
between the congressional election and the
presidential election the smallest?
A) 1996 to 1998
B) 2000 to 2002
C) 2004 to 2006
D) 2008 to 2010
206
1.40
1.35
Month
A) January to March
B) April to June D) 75%
C) July to September
D) October to December
207
30
Chicago
20
Los Angeles
1 2 3 4 10
2006 2008 2010 2012 2014
Population (millions) Year
Researchers created the graph above to compare Based on the graph, which of the following best
their population estimates with the actual describes the general trend in birth rates in
populations of different cities in 2010. For which South Korea and Japan from 2006 to 2014?
of the cities did the researchers underestimate
A) Each year, birth rates decreased in both
the population?
South Korea and Japan.
I. San Diego Each year, birth rates increased in both
B)
Chicago South Korea and Japan.
111. Los Angeles
C) Each year, birth rates increased in South
A) I only Korea but decreased in Japan.
B) I and II only
D) Each year, birth rates decreased in South
C) II and Ill only Korea but increased in Japan.
D) 1, 11, and 111
208
30
10
28
26
24
8 22
20
7
18
Q.) 16
14
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 12
Age (years)
C) 55 A) 14
D) 60 B) 16
C) 24
D) 30
209
11
Annual Salt Production in the U.S. Video Game Console Sales in 2015
o
40
250
30 200
o
150
0 20
o
100
o
10
Z'
50
o
C) 2013 to 2014
D) 2014 to 2015
10
400
300
o
200
100
210
12 13
O 5 5
0
1 2 3 4
AL AZ
Quarter State
The graph above shows the profit of Company X The graph above shows the health care spending
and Company Y in each quarter of last year. In of four different states, Alabama (AL), AK
which quarter was Company X's profit twice (Alaska), AZ (Arizona), and AR (Arkansas) in
Company Y 's? 2013. Based on the graph, which state had the
highest combined hospital care and prescription
drug spending in 2013?
A) Alabama
B) Alaska
C) Arizona
D) Arkansas
211
15
190
10
180
170
160
150
140
4
130
unne
120
110
Time (hours)
345678
Time (Hours after 8:00 A.M.)
Jeremy works at a call center. The graph above Greg eats breakfast at 8:00 A.M. and lunch at
shows the average number of calls he answered 12:00 P.M. During each meal, doctors record his
per hour during his 7-hour work shift. What is glucose levels in the graph above until they are
the total number of calls he answered during his
able to calculate Greg's glucose recovery time, the
shift?
time it takes for the body's glucose levels to
return to their recorded value at the start of the
meal. According to the graph, by how many
hours is Greg's glucose recovery time after
dinner greater than his glucose recovery time
after lunch?
A) 1.5
D) 5.5
212
Car X
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
— 15
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
213
Nearly all probability questions on the SAT will involve tables of data. So for the purposes of the SAT,
probability can more narrowly be defined as
EXAMPLE 1:
Beef -Chicken
First-Class 18
Coach 138
The number of first class passengers is 18 + 27 = 45. This is the group under consideration. The number of
first class passengers who prefer beef is 18. This is the target group.
Answer (B) .
214
cars Trucks
Shift 173 126 299
Secondshift i043 :025
-Third shift 165 109 274
520 *898
In this question, the groupunder consideration includes all the vehicles, a total of 898 at the end of the day.
The target group includes cars produced during the first shift and trucks produced during the third shift, a
total of 173 + 109 = 282 vehicles.
Answer (B) .
Violation Type
Truck 68 39 17 124
Car 83 51 26 160
Total 151 90 43 284
A district police deparment records driving violations by type and vehicle in the table above. According
to the record, which of the following is closest to the proportion of stop sign violations committed by truck
drivers?
A) 0.137
B) 0.315
C) 0.433
D) 0.567
215
The table below shows the number of workers in California with at least one year of experience in five different
construction-related occupations.
Years of Experience
1 2 3 4 5+ Total
Based on the table, if a plumber in California is chosen at random, which of the following is closest to the
probability that the plumber has at least four years of experience?
A) 0.10
B) 0.22
C) 0.25
D) 0.46
If a worker with at least four years of experience is chosen at random from those included in the table, which
of the following is closest to the probability that the person is a plumber?
A) 0.10
B) 0.22
C) 0.25
D) 0.46
216
A car manufacturer produces cars in red, blue, black, white, and silver. The incomplete table above shows
the percentage of cars it produces in each color. If a car from the manufacturer is chosen at random, what is
the probability that the car's color is red or silver?
A) 23%
B) 330/0
D) 43%
Underdog 10 35 45
Favorite 25 5 30
Total 40 75
The table above shows the results of a baseball team, categorized by whether the team was considered the
game or the underdog (expected
favorite (expected to win) in the to lose). What fraction of the games in
which the team was considered the underdog did the team win?
2
7
2
9
2
15
217
Box springs 35 40 55
Mattresses 47 61 68 198
Total 82 101 88 77 348
A store manager summarizes the number of box spring and mattress units sold over four weeks at a bedding
store in the incomplete table above. Weeks 2 and 3 accounted for what fraction of all box spring units sold?
2
15
4
15
2
5
4
5
USA 29 29 104
China 38 23 88
Russia 24 26 32 82
Great Britain 29 17 19 65
Germany 11 19 14 44
Total 148 118 117 383
The table above shows the distribution of medals awarded at the 2012 London Summer Olympics. If an
Olympic medalist is to be chosen at random from one of the countries in the table, which country gives the
highest probability of selecting a Bronze medalist?
A) USA
B) Russia
C) Great Britain
D) Germany
218
All fish can be categorized as either cartilaginous or bony. The data in the table above were produced by
biologists studying the fish species in the Philippines and New Caledonia. Assuming that each fish species
has an equal chance of being caught, the probability of catching a cartilaginous fish in the Philippines is how
much greater than the probability of catching one in New Caledonia?
2
15
1
4
3
10
1
East Africa 65
South Africa 30
Total 135 220
The incomplete table above summarizes the number of wildfires that occurred in two regions of Africa in
2014 by cause. Based on the table, what fraction of all wildfires in East Africa in 2014 were human-caused?
11
24
13
27
13
24
11
15
219
A manufacturer uses two assembly lines to produce air conditioners. The results of each assembly line's
quality control are shown in the table above. If a refrigerator from the manufacturer turns out to be defective,
what is the probability that the refrigerator was produced by Assembly Line A?
B) 37.5%
C) 600/0
D) 62.5%
11
Type of Residence
Family members Apartment Duplex Single residence Total
1 10 22 3 35
2 20 12 13 45
3 8 8 12 28
4 or more 8 4 18 30
Total 46 46 46 138
The table above summarizes the distribution of living situations for residences in a neighborhood. If a
duplex in the neighborhood is to be inspected at random, what is the probability that the residence is
occupied by no more than 2 family members?
2
23
6
23
17
69
23
220
12
Percent of samples
Number of soil samples
with Chemical A
Area A 450 80/0
The data in the table above were produced by ecologists who collected soil samples from two areas to
determine whether they were contaminated with Chemical A. Based on the table, what proportion of the
soil samples were contaminated with Chemical A?
A) 0.067
B) 0.069
C) 0.070
D) 0.072
13
The table above shows the results of a test that is designed to give a positive indicator when patients are
infected with a certain virus and a negative indicator when they are not infected. According to the results,
what is the probability that the test gives the incorrect indicator?
B) 80/0
D) 12%
221
14
Sugar Pill
The incomplete table above shows the results of a study in which doctors gave patients experiencing back
pain either a drug or a sugar pill. Three times as many patients were cured from the drug than from the
sugar pill. For every 2 patients cured by the sugar pill, 5 patients were not cured by the sugar pill. According
to the results, if a patient is given a sugar pill, what is the probability that the person will be cured of back
pain?
4
2
7
3
10
2
5
15
The principal of a school is deciding whether to spend a budget surplus on new gym equipment or computers.
The incomplete table above summarizes the preferences among junior and senior class students. If a senior
from the school is chosen at random, the probability that the student prefers gym equipment is —. How
many seniors are at the school?
222
The median is the number in the middle when the list is in order. For example, the median for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 is 3.
Now what if the list were 100 numbers long? How would you determine the median? Take half to get 50. The
50th and 51st numbers would be the ones in the middle you would average.
For an ordered list of 101 numbers, take half to get 50.5. Round up. The 51st number is the median.
Seems a little counterintuitive, right? If you find this hard to memorize, just keep the smallest case in your
back pocket. For a list of 3 numbers, the second one is obviously the median. How would we get this
mathematically? Take half of 3 to get 1.5. Round up to 2, which designates the second number. For a list of 4
numbers, the median is the average of the second and third numbers. Take half of 4 to get 2. This designates
the second and third numbers.
In both cases, we "rounded up." When there was an odd number of numbers, we rounded 1.5 up to 2. When
there was an even number of numbers, we rounded 2 up to 3, which indicated that two numbers would
contribute to the median. This technique may seem a bit odd, but many students have found it helpful in
quickly finding the median of a large batch of numbers.
The mode is the number that shows up the most often. In our particular list, it's@.
The range is the difference between the biggest number in the list and the smallest number:
223
The standard deviation is a measure of how spread out a list of numbers is. In other words, how much they
"deviate" from the mean. The standard deviation is lower when more numbers are closer to the mean. The
standard deviation is higher when more numbers are spread out away from the mean. For example, our
list
2225
would have a higher standard deviation than the following list
555567
because the second list is more around the mean. It turns out that the standard deviation
tightly clustered
of our list is 2.28 and the standard deviation of the second list is 0.83. Don't worry about how we got these
values—you'll never be asked to calculate the standard deviation on the SAT. Just know how to compare one
list's standard deviation with another's as we just did.
EXAMPLE 1:
HoursSpent Pl+Eing Sports
3
H0UV$
the -histograrmabove summarizes the daily number ofrhours spent•playing sports for 80 sttååents ata
school.
ART 2ö.aWh@t the median daily number Of hours Spent playing sports for '!hé 80 StudentS?
Part 1 Solution: Sum up the total number of hours for every student. Then divide that by the number of
students.
Total hours (o x 5) + (1 x 35) + (2 x 15) + (3 x 25) 140
1.75
Number of students 80 80
and 41st students are the two in the middle (the histogram
Part 2 Solution: In a group of 80 students, the 40th
already orders the students by their hours so we
to). The first 5 students spend 0 hours playing
don't have
sports each day. The next 35 students spend 1 hour. This group includes the 40th student, so the 40th student
spends 1 hour. The next 15 students spend 2 hours. Now this group includes the 41st student, so the 41st
student spends 2 hours. Taking the average,
Daily hours spent by 40th student + Daily hours spent by 41st student
1.5
2 2
224
EXAMPLE E
o 2
Flights Taken
3456
m a Year
The dot plot above summarizes t]vnurnber of flights taken in a year by 19 college students. If the student
who took 6 flights in a year is removed from data. which of the following correctly descrü'es the
changes to statistical nu!asures of data?
A) only
B) land 11 only
C) I and
D) 111
The student who tixmk 6 flights in a year is called an outlier, an extreme data point that is far outside where
most of the data lies, Because this outlier is greater than the rest Of the data, it brings the average (mean) up. It
also increases the range since there is a larger gap between the minimum (0) and the maximum
When this outlier is removed, the mean decreases and the range decreases. The median, however, is unaffected.
To confirm this, let's calculate it, removed, there are 19 students, and the median is
Before the outlier is
represented by the 10th student, who took one flight. is removed. there are 18 students. and
After the outlier
the median is represented by the 9th and 10th students, both Of whom took One flight. so the median Of I does
not change, And in fact, outliers typically affect the mean but not the median. Answer (C)
Once you will get a word problem that involves averages. These questions have less to do with
in a while,
and more to do with algebra, but because we cover averages in this chapter, we decided to cover
statistics
these types of word problems here as well.
When dealing with average questions on the SAT, think in terms of sums or totals. You can always find the
sum by multiplying the average with the number of subjects.
l.ß*t the number Of pandas in the original group be x, The total weight of the original group is then When
another panda joins the group, the number of pandas is x +1 and the total weight is 205(x + 1).
EXAMPLE 4:
Neighborhood A
30
20
0123 4 5 6
Number Of cars owned
Neighborhood B
10
0123456
Number of cars owned
The bar charts above summarize the number of cars that residents from two neighborhoods, A and Br
own. Which of thefollowing correctly compares the standard deviation of thenumber of cars owned by
iBidents in each of the neighborhoods?
A)- The standard deviation of the number of cars owned by residents in Neighborhood A Margen
B) The standard deviationdf thenumber of cars owned by residents in Neighborhood B is larger.
226
Most of the data for Neighborhood B are at the ends and are much more spread out from the mean, which,
because the bar graph is symmetrical, we can estimate to be 3 cars. The data for Neighborhood A, on the
other hand, are more clustered towards the low end, where the mean is. Therefore, the standard deviation for
64.5 z
B) 65
C) 66
D) 665
Books read
227
Miss World Titleholders Locks are sections of canals in which the water
level can be mechanically changed to raise and
lower boats. The table below shows the number
of locks for 10 canals in France.
Name # Locks
Aisne 27
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Alsace 25
Centre 30
The dotplot above shows the distribution of ages
Garonne 23
for 24 winners of the Miss World beauty pageant
at the time they were crowned. Based on the Lalinde 27
data, which of the following is closest to the Midi 32
average (arithmetic mean) age of the winning Oise 27
Miss World pageant contestant?
Vosges 93
A) 19 Sambre 29
B) 20
Removing which of the following two canals
C) 21
from the data would result in the greatest
D) 22 decrease in the standard deviation of the
number of locks in each canal?
228
Bus B 45 46 47 48 49
70 7
229
11
Score 87 75 90 83 98 87 91
A) All the units expired within 3 days.
B) The unit with the longest shelf life took 3 The table above shows the scores for Jay's first
days longer to expire than the unit with the seven math quizzes. Which of the following are
true about his scores?
shortest shelf life.
C) The mean shelf life of the units is 3 more I. The mode is greater than the median.
than the median. II. The median is greater than the mean.
D) The median shelf life of the units is 3 more
111. The range is greater than 20.
than the mean. A) II only
B) 111 only
C) 11 and 111
230
13 14
Calories in Meals
School A
5 " School B 500 500 520 550 550
550 550 600 600 900
shown in each class are the same in both miles per gallon) of 15 different cars. If the dot
schools. representing the car with the greatest gas
mileageis removed from the dotplot, what will
231
16
60 60 61 61 65 90
A) Mean
B) Median
C) Range
D) None of them will change.
232
questions.
4 or;more 100
There area tOtalof 18,000 customers in thestore'sdatabäSe. Based on the survey data, what isthe expected
total number Ofcustomers who own 2 pets?
Using the sample data, we can estimate the total number who own 2 pets to be
200
18, ooo x 1,OOO ¯ 3, 600
233
EXAMPLE 2:
Oxygen Uptake versus Heart Rate
3
23
15
The scatterplot above shows tlu• relationship between heart rate and oxygen uptake at 16 different points
during Kyle's exercise routine. line Of best fit is also shown.
PART I: Based on the line of fit, what is Kyle's predicted oxygen uptake at a heart rate of 110 beats
per minute?
PART 2: What is oxygen uptake, in liters per minute, of measurement represented by data
point that is farthest from the line of best fit?
Part 1 Solution: Using the line of best fit, we can see that at a heart rate of 110 beats per minute (along the
Using the line of best fit to make a prediction can be dangerous, especially when
we are making a prediction outside the scope of our data set (predicting the oxygen uptake at a heart rate
of 250 beats per minute, for example—you'd probably be
there are outliers that may heavily influence the line of best fit (see Part 2).
the data is better modeled by a quadratic or exponential curve rather than a linear one. In this case, a
linear model looks to be the right one, but something like compound interest may look linear al first even
though it's exponential growth,
Part 2 Solution: From the scatterplot, we can see that the data point farthest away from the line Of best fit is at
118 along the x-axis, The point represents an oxygen uptake of 2.5 liters per minute.
Note that this data point is likely an outlier, which can heavily influence the line Of best fit and throw Off Our
predictions. Outliers should be removed from the data if they represent special cases or exceptions,
Not only will you be asked to make predictions using the line of best fit, but you'll also be asked to interpret
its slope and y-intercept, We'll use the data from this example in the next one to show you how these concepts
are tested.
EXAMPLE S:
Oxygen Uptake versus Heart Rate
3
E 25
5 0.5
The scatterplot shows the relationship between heartrate and 0*ygen Uptake at 16 different points
during Kyle's exercise routine, The line of bestflt'is also shown,
PARTÄ: Which Of the following is the best interpretation of the slope of Che line of best fit in the context
of this problem?
b) Kyle's predicted heart rate in beats per ynifiute at an oxygen uptakesof Oliters per minute
PART o! t}vefoUOWing is the best interpretatiOn of they-inteteept Of th€line of best fit<in the.
Context Of Problem?
*The Predicted increase in Kyle's oxygen uptakéEinJitersper minuté„foi every one beat minute
Increase In his heart rate
B) The predicted increase kyle's heart rate, an.beaCS per minute—for every one liter per minute
increase In hs.oxygen uptake
Part 1 Solution: As we learned in the linear model questions in the interpretation chapter, the slope is the
increase in y (oxygen uptake) for each increase in x (heart rate). The only difference now is that it's a predicted
increase. The answer is (A)
Part 2 Solution: The y-intercept is the value of y (oxygen uptake) when x (the heart beat) is 0. The answer is
(C) . Note that this value would have no significance in real life since you would be dead at a heart rate of 0.
This again illustrates the danger of predicting values outside the scope of the sample data.
235
EXAMPLE 4: Målden is a town the sCåteof Massachusetts. A real estäte,agent randomly surveyed 50
apartments for sale in Maiden and found that theaverageprice of each apartmeni was
real estate agent intends to replicate the surveyand will attempt to geta smaller margin of error: Which
of the following samples will most a smaller margin of error for the mean price of an
likely result in
apartment in Malden, Massachusetts?
The answer is (C) . The margin of error refers to the room for error we give to an estimate. For example, we
could say the mean price of an apartment in Malden is $150,000 with a margin of error of $10,000. This implies
that the true mean price of all apartments in Malden is likely between $140,000 and $160,000. This interval is
called a confidence interval (see Example 6).
To get a smaller margin of error in Example 4, we should first only select from apartments in Malden. Selecting
apartments from all of Massachusetts not only introduces more variability to the data but also strays from the
original intent of the survey, which is to find the average price of Malden apartments. Secondly, we should use
a larger sample size. This is common The more apartments we survey, the more accurate our data and
sense.
our estimations are and the lower our margin of error is.
In fact, the margin of error for any estimate from an experiment depends on two factors:
• Sample size
• Variability in the data (often measured by standard deviation)
The larger the sample size and the less variable the data is, the lower the margin of error. We typically can't
control the standard deviation of the data (how spread out it is), but we can control the sample size. So why
don't researchers always use huge sample sizes? Because it's too costly and time-consuming to gather data
from everyone and everywhere.
B) Exercising three times a Week improves examscoresnore than e*étcismg just oncou
C) Aby student Starts exercising at least-Once a weewwill improve hiS Or her exam scores
V) There is a VOSitive asSOéiatioObetvgeen exercise and
This question deals with a classic case of association (also called correlation) vs. causation. Just because
students who exercise got better exam scores doesn't mean an improvement in exam
that exercise causes
scores. It's just associated with an improvement in exam scores. Perhaps students who exercise just have more
discipline or they have more demanding parents who make them study harder. Due to the way the experirnent
was designed, we can't tell what the underlying factor is.
236
Therefore, answer (A) is wrong because it implies causation. Answer (B) is wrong because it not only implies
causation but also implies that the frequency of exercise matters, something that wasn't tracked in the experiment.
Answer (C) is wrong because it suggests a completely certain outcome. Even if exercise DID improve exam
scores, not every single student who starts exercising will improve their scores. There might be students for
whom exercising makes their scores worse. Any conclusion drawn from sample data is a generalization and
should not be regarded as a truth for every individual.
The answer is (D) . There is a positive association between exercise and student exam scores.
One of the things the researchers did correctly was to take random samples from each group. The key word is
random. If we wouldn't even have been able to conclude that there is a positive
the samples weren't random,
association between exercise and exam scores. Why? Let's say the researchers picked 30 students from the
tennis team for the exercise group and 30 students who just play video games all day for the non-exercise
group. Definitely not random. Now, did the exercise group do better on their exams because they exercise
or because they play tennis? Or was it the video games that made the non-exercise group perform worse?
Because the selection isn't random, we can't tell how each factor influences the result. When the selection is
random, all the factors except the one we'æ testing are "averaged out."
Now what if the researchers wanted to see whether exercise does indeed cause an improvement in exam scores.
What should they have done differently? The answer is random assignment. Instead of randomly selecting 200
students from one group that already exercises regularly and 200 students from another group that does not,
they should have just randomly selected 400 students. The next step would be to randomly assign each student
to exercise or not. Everyone in the exercise group is forced to exercise at least once a week and everyone in the
non-exercise group is not allowed to exercise. If the exercise group performs better on the exams, then we can
conclude that exercise causes an improvement in exam scores. Of course, conducting this type of experiment
can be extremely difficult, which is why proving causation can be such a monumental task.
The following list summarizes the conclusions you can draw from different experimental designs involving
two variables (e.g. exercise and exam scores).
1. Subjects not selected at random & Subjects not randomly assigned
• Results cannot be generalized to the population.
e Example: Researchers want to see whether medication X is effective in treating the flu. People
with the flu from Town A receive medication X. People with the flu from Town B receive a placebo
(sugar pill). More people in the medication X group experience a reduction in flu symptoms. The
generalizafion that medication X is associated with a reduction in flu symptoms cannot be made
since was only tested in Town A and Town B (sample was not randomly selected from the general
it
population). There may be something special about Town A and Town B. No cause and effect
relationship can be established because the medication was not randomly assigned. Perhaps Town
A experienced a less severe flu epidemic.
2. Subjects not selected at random & Subjects randomly assigned
• Results cannot be generalized to the population.
• Example: Researchers want to see whether medication X is effective in treating the flu. People
with the flu A and Town B are randomly assigned to either medication X or a placebo
from Town
(sugar pill). More people in the medication X group experience a reduction in flu symptoms. The
generalization that medication X is effective for everyone cannot be made since it was only tested
in Town A and Town B (sample was not randomly selected from the general population). Perhaps
only one particular strain of the flu exists in Town A and Town B. A cause and effect relationship
can be established because the medication was randomly assigned. For the people in Town A and
237
Town B, we can conclude that medication X causes a reduction in flu symptoms. Note that this is
still just a generalization—as with any other medication, medication X does not guarantee you will
definitely get better, even if you live in Town A or Town B.
3. Subjects selected at random & Subjects not randomly assigned
• Results can be generalized to the population.
• Example: Researchers want to see whether medication X is effective in treating the flu. People
with the flu from the general population are randomly selected. They are given the choice of a
new medication (medication X) or a traditional medication (really a sugar pill). More people in the
medication X group experience a reduction in flu symptoms. We can generalize that people who
choose to receive medication X fare better than those who don't. However, no cause and effect
relationship can be established because the medication was not randomly assigned. We don't know
whether the reduction in symptoms is due to the medication or a difference between those who
volunteered and those who didn't.
• Example: Researchers want to see whether medication X is effective in treating the flu. People
with the from the general population are randomly selected. Using a coin toss (heads or tails),
flu
researchers randomly assign each person to either medication X or a placebo (sugar pill). More
people in the medication X group experience a reduction in flu symptoms. We can conclude that
medication X causes a reduction in flu symptoms. This conclusion can be generalized to the entire
population of people with the flu.
) 95% ofållthe forest rainfallS in thé past year have pHbetween3.2and 3.8,
B) 95%of all the fméserainfalls m the a pHbetween > and 38
C) It is praUsibJe that the Of all the-forestidififalls in yearisbetweerv3.2and
Ifyou don't know what a confidence interval is, don't worry. You'll never need to calculate one and the SAT
makes these questions very easy. All a confidence interval does is tell you where the true mean (or some other
statistical measure) for the population is likely to be (e.g. between 3.2 and 3.8). Even though the SAT only
brings up 95% confidence intervals, there are 97% and 99% (any percentage) confidence intervals. The higher
the confidence, the more likely the true mean falls within the interval. So in the example above, we can be
quite confident that the hue mean pH of all the forest rainfalls in the past year is between 3.2 and 3.8. Answer
(C) . The answer is not (D) because we cannot draw conclusions about the past decade when all the samples
were gathered from the past year.
A confidence interval does NOT say anything about the rainfalls themselves. You cannot say that any one
rainfall has a 95% chance pH between 3.2 and 3.8, and you cannot say that 95% of all the forest
of having a
rainfalls in the past year had a pH between 3.2 and 3.8. Always remember that a confidence interval applies
238
only to the mean, which is a statistical measurement, NOT an individual data point or a group of data
points.
So what does it mean in statistics to be 95% confident in something? If the experiment were repeated again and
again, each with 40 water samples, 95% of those experiments would give us a confidence interval that contains
the true mean. In other words, the confidence interval given in the example is the result of just one experiment.
Another run of the same experiment (another 40 samples) would produce a different confidence interval. Keep
on getting these confidence intervals and 95% of them will contain the true mean. So the 95% pertains to all
the confidence intervals generated by repeated experiments, NOT the chance that any one confidence interval
contains the true mean. Again, don't worry about how confidence intervals are calculated, but be aware that
this is how "confidence" is defined in statistics.
239
13 90
12 80
11
70
60
10
50
40
30
20
30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
A) 40
B) 50
C) 55
D) 60
240
A university wants to determine the dietary Consumer Behavior during Store Sales
preferences of the students in its freshman class.
60
Which of the following survey methods is most 55
likely to provide the most valid results? 50
A) Selecting a random sample of 600 students 45
40
from the university
35
B) Selecting arandom sample of 300 students 30
from the university's freshman class 25
C) Selecting a random sample of 600 students 20
from the university's freshman class 15
10
D) Selecting a random sample of 600 students Q.) 5
from one of the university's freshman
dining halls 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Store Discount (%)
241
The scatterplot above shows the relationship The scatterplot above plots the lengths of 15
between revenue and advertising expenses for movies against their box office sales. The line of
16 companies. The line of best fit is also shown. best fit is also shown. Which of the following is
Which of the following is the best interpretation the best interpretation of the meaning of the
of the meaning of the slope of the line of best fit? slope of the line of best fit?
A) The expected increase in revenue for every A) The expected decrease in box office sales
one dollar increase in advertising expenses per minute increase in movie length
B) The expected increase in revenue for every B) The expected increase in box office sales per
one thousand dollar increase in advertising minute increase in movie length
expenses C) The expected decrease in box office sales
C) The expected increase in advertising per 10-minute increase in movie length
expenses for every one thousand dollar
D) The expected increase in box office sales per
increase in revenue
10-minute increase in movie length
D) The expected revenue of a company that
has no advertising expenses
242
50 420
400
40
380
30
360
o
20
10 320
z
o 100 200 300 400 500 600 15 20 25 30 35
Prize (in dollars) Total fat (grams)
In a psychological study, researchers asked The above shows the fat content and
scatterplot
participants to each complete a difficult task for calorie counts of 8 different cups of ice cream.
a cash prize, the amount of which varied from Based on the line of best fit to the data shown,
participant to participant. The results of the what is the expected increase in thenumber of
study, as well as the line of best fit, are shown in calories for each additional gram of fat in a cup
the scatterplot above. Which of the following is of ice cream?
the best interpretation of the meaning of the
y-intercept of the line of best fit?
243
10 11
80
70
80
60
50 60
40
40
30
o
o 20
20
10
B) 350 C) 320
C) 400 D) 560
D) 450
12
244
air pressure of 8.2 psi (pounds per square inch) has a 95% confidence interval of 5 to 6 inches.
and a margin of error of 0.1 psi. In Week 2, the Which of the following conclusions is the most
sample had a mean air pressure of 7.7 psi and a appropriate based on the confidence interval?
margin of error of 0.3 psi. Based on these results,
A) 95% of all blue-spotted salamanders have a
which of the following is a reasonable
tail that is between 5 and 6 inches in length
conclusion?
B) 95% of all salamanders have a tail that is
A) Most of the basketballs produced in Week 1 between 5 and 6 inches in length
had an air pressure under 8.2 psi, whereas
C) The true average length of the tails of all
most of the basketballs produced in Week 2
blue-spotted salamanders is likely between
had an air pressuæ under 7.7 psi.
5 and 6 inches.
B) The mean air pressure of all the basketballs
D) The true average length of the tails of all
produced in Week 1 was 0.5 psi more than
salamanders is likely between 5 and 6
the mean air pressure of all the basketballs
inches.
produced in Week 2.
C) The number of basketballs in the Week 1
sample was more than the number of 16
basketballs in the Week 2 sample.
D) It is very likely that the mean air pressure An economist conducted research to determine
of all the basketballs produced in Week 1 whether there is a relationship between the price
was less than the mean air pressure of all of food and population density. He collected
the basketballs produced in Week 2. data from a random sample of 100 U.S. cities and
found significant evidence that the price of food
is lower in places with a high population
14
best supported by these results?
A student is assigned to conduct a survey to A) In U.S. cities, there is a positive association
determine the mean number of servings of between the price of food and population
vegetables eaten by a certain group of people density.
each day. The student has not yet decided which
B) In U.S. cities, there is a negative association
group of people will be the focus of this survey.
between the price of food and population
Selecting a random sample from which of the
density.
following groups would most likely give the
smallest margin of error? C) In U.S. cities, a decrease in the price of food
is caused by an increase in the population
A) Residents of the same city
density.
B) Customers of a certain restaurant
D) In U.S. cities, an increase in the population
C) Viewers of the same television show density is caused by a decrease in the price
of food.
D) Students who are following the same daily
diet plan
245
That's why the volume of a cube is V — s3 (the area of the base is s2 and the height is s)
The volume of a rectangular box/ prism is V lwh (the area of the base is lw and the height is h)
And the volume of a cylinder is V — Ttr2h (the area of the base is nr2 and the height is h)
246
Even though the SAT gives you these formulas at the beginning of each math section, they should be memorized,
in addition to the volume of a cone
The area of the ring is the outer circle minus the inner circle.
V— 7T(R2 — r2)h
247
B) 8a2
C) 8a3
D) 16a3
5 cm
A) 107T
C) 7.5
B) 157t
C) 207T
D) 407t
A) 120
B) 130
C) 150
D) 160
248
C) 36
D) 48
B) 247T
C) 327t
D) 487t A 3 x 4 x 5 solid block is made up of 1 x 1 x 1
unit cubes. The outside surface of the block is
painted black. How many unit cubes have
exactly one face painted black?
249
10
9 cm
3
8
10
15 cm
A crate that is 10 inches long, 8 inches wide, and
3 inches high is shown
above. The floor and the
four walls are one inch thick. How many
all
A food manufacturer produces packages of one-inch cubical blocks can fit inside the crate?
frozen ice cream cones. Each ice cream cone
A) 84
consists of a right circular cone that is filled with
B) 96
icecream until a hemisphere is formed above the
cone as shown in the figure above. The right C) 120
circular cone has a base radius of 9 cm and a D) 144
slant height of 15 cm. What is the volume of ice
cream, in cubic centimeters, the manufacturer
uses for each ice cream cone? 12
A) 7297T
B) 8107T
C) 8917T
D) 9607T
5 6
by volume)
A) 1,420
B) 1,560
C) 1,820
D) 2,040
250
2. —1 12. 64 1
21.
9
13. -72
22. 125
14. 108
1
23.
15. -648 125
16. 1 24. 49
1
7. -1 1
25.
6 49
1 26. 1000
18.
9. ¯ 27 4
1
27.
10. 27 19. 1 1, ooo
251
EXERCISE 2:
8 x6 1
2. 11. 20.
a6
9b5 1
6. 15. 3x8 24.
mn2
16. x
n4 25. k
7.
2 17.
m6
26.
8. a4b6 2 n9
18
27. x y z
9.
x
EXERCISE 3:
13.
14.
9. 2V2 15. x — 21
1
10. 16. x
2
11. x 50 17.
12. 18.
252
CHAPTER EXERCISE:
16
1
3 B) (-4)4 256
1 C) (2-2)2 —
— 16
9
D) 2-24 —2. 16 32
123 , 24,25
Now y9 can be replaced by x6,
we can clearly see that there are 25 numbers.
Therefore, n is the sum of twenty-five I's. The x 3z
answer is 25.
x
3z
x6
3z =6
22(2n+3) 23(n+5)
2X(23— 1) = k(2X)
2X
23 ? (7) k(2X)
2X-Y 23
3
11.
1 3 1 3
10 10 3
Therefore, a
33 33 4
253
(2 x+2)2
— 18
— 18
4x — 10
x = 25
13. c
ac bc 30
ac+bc 30
x
ac + bc 30
(a + b)c 30
5c 30
6
4
n nx
equation,
nx 20x
n 20
15.
3xy
3xy 333
xy — 111
254
Chapter 2: Percent
CHAPTER EXERCISE:
x 0.02 —
53
4. C Week 3 accounted for 0.32 - 320/0
167
70
of the total box spring units sold.
56 B
103
0.267 26.7%
386
12. C Kyle ate 20(1.20) 24 pounds of chicken
6• 0.553 55.3% wings and 15(1.40) pounds of hot dogs.
21
That's a total of 24 + 21 45 pounds of food.
43 - 68 John had 20 + 15
0.37 — 37% decrease. 35 pounds of food. The
68 percent increase from John to Kyle is
56
$56, which is 56% of the original price.
100 13. C Let her starting card count be x. A loss of
18 percent reduces her total to (0.82) x. From
there, an increase of 36 percent gets the total
(1.36) (0.82)x =n
n
x
(1.36) (0.82)
255
14. 6,460.
1
-x 40
5
x = 200
There are 200 accessories in the store.
256
25 - 20
1. @With exponential growth, we need to calculate the percent increase, which turns out to be
20
0.25. Therefore, the rate is 1.25, and the growth can be modeled by P 20(1.25)t.
2. @The constant increase is 125 100 25. Therefore, the slope is 25 and the y-intercept (the initial
population) is 100.
3. @The population of trees is experiencing exponential decay at a rate of 1 — 0.04 0.96. The decrease
6. B Each month, Albert loses a book. Because this is a constant decrease, the relationship is linear decay
(decreasing linear).
7. The cell count doubles every hour so the rate, r, is 2. The initial count is 80 so c = 80.
8. Five percent of the original square footage is a constant. It doesn't change, which would make it
linear growth.
257
Chapter 4: Proportion
CHAPTER EXERCISE:
Pold =
(o.5V)2 0.25V2
new — 0.25P01d
1
Void
3
1
new — —7T(0.80r) 2(1.10h) 0.704V01d
3 (13
1
AOId — (bl
2
+ b2)h
1
Anew C) (2) [I(bl + b2)hl — -(bl
2
+ b2)h AOId
Notice how — was factored out from bl and b2. The area stays the same.
5. B Let r be the radius of Kevin's sphere, and let x be the factor the radius of Calvin's sphere is greater by.
4
VKevin — Ttr3
3
4
VCalvin ¯ X3 — 7tr3 X VKevin
3
x3
x 1.59
258
1 1
6. B The area of the original triangle is — (s) (s) —s 2
2 2
1
Anew —(xs)2 X Aold
2 (12
x — .80
Lother star —
¯ 47Td2b
Lstar 47T(3d)2(2b) (47Td2b) 18L0ther star
1
LstarA — —LstarB
9
1
—(47Td2b)
9
1
x2 (47Td2b) — —(47Td2b)
9
2 1
x
9
1
259
Chapter 5: Rates
CHAPTER EXERCISE:
xy + xy + xy — 2xy
2. For one week, Tim's diet plan would require a protein intake of 7 x 60 420 grams. Since each
protein bar provides 30 grams of protein, he would need to buy 420 + 30 — 14 protein bars.
3. [J Over 6 years, the screen size increased by a total of 18.5 15.5 3 inches. That's 3 ±6 — 0.5 inches
each year.
4. B The pressure increases by 70 50 — 20 atm while the submarine descends —900 (—700) — -200
meters. That's 20 200 = 0.1 atm per meter, or 1 atm per 10 meters.
5. 3 The pool has a capacity of 5 >< 300 1, 500 gallons. At an increased rate of 500 gallons per hour, it
d dollars 20d
20 AppleS x dollars
a AppleS a
n
7. @With ab students and n stickers, each student receives stickers.
ab
8. @The racecar burned 22 18 4 gallons of fuel in 7 —4 3 laps. To get to 6 gallons left, the racecar
will have to consume 18 —6 12 more gallons. That's
3 laps
12 gallorTS x 9 more laps
4 gallon-S
9. took 2.5 hours for 65 —40 25 boxes to be unloaded. There are 3.5 hours from 3:30PM to 7:00PM.
25 boxes
In 3.5 hours, 3.5 hotlfS x 35 more boxes will be unloaded. That's a total of 65 + 35 100
2.5
boxes.
d 400
10. Amy spends — dollars each week on fruit. Therefore, it will take her 100 weeks to spend
4 d
$100 on fruit.
11. The setup fees amount to 100c, $100 for each customer. The monthly cost for all the customers
amounts to 50c, $50 for each customer. Over m months, the monthly charges add up to 50c x m, or
50cm. The total charge is therefore 100c + 50cm.
12. The compound's temperature increases by — degrees per minute. So after x minutes, the temperature
dx dx
increases by —x, or . The final temperature is then t +
m
260
13. @The reduced price of each souvenir after the first is 0.6a. After the first souvenir, there are n I
souvenirs that James will purchase at the reduced price. Therefore, the total cost is a + (n 1) (0.6a).
14. D The bakers make 3xy cupcakes each day. Over 4 days, they will make a total of 4 x 3xy — 12xy
cupcakes. The number of boxes needed is the total number of cupcakes divided by the number of
12xy
cupcakes that can fit in each box: = 12y.
15. @For mn students, the total number of slices must be 2mn. Since there are 8 slices in each pizza, the
16. The percent change is the new minus the old over the old times 100. Notice that the P's cancel out.
100
x 100 —1 x 100
{öö)5
17. A The first 150 miles took 150 + 30 — 5 hours. The next 200 miles took 200 50 = 4 hours. His average
:
speed, total distance over total time, was (150 + 200) / (5 + 4) 38.89 miles per hour.
18. 120 Average speed is just total distance over total time. The total distance, in inches, was 2400 x 12
28, 800. The total time, in seconds, was 4 x 60 = 240. 28, 800 + 240 = 120 inches per second.
19. 432
90 words
12 x 432 words
2.5 minutéS
20. 8 The painter can cover an area of 97T in 2 minutes. A circular region with a radius of 6 feet has
an area of 367T.
2 minutes
367T X 8 minutes
97T
21. @The clock falls behind by 8 minutes every hour. There are 6.5 hours between 4:00 AM and 10:30 AM,
so the clock falls behind by 8 x 6.5 52 minutes. The correct time is then 52 minutes past 10:30 AM,
which is 11:22 AM.
23.
60minuteS 32 kilometers
2 houfS x 265 kilometers
1 hotlf
24. Two liters is equivalent to 2 x 33.8 — 67.6 ounces, which will fill 67.6 + 12 5.63 plastic cups. So at
most, 5 plastic cups can be completely filled.
261
25. @What makes this question a little tricky is that we don't know the distance Brett travels each month or
thenumber of gallons he uses each month. Let's say he needs 2 gallons of gas each month (you can make
up any number you want). That means he travels 30 x 2 — 60 miles each month and each gallon costs
160 2 80 dollars (ridiculous, I know). Now if he switches to the new car, he'll only need 60 + 40 — 1.5
gallons of gas each month (distance of 60 miles divided by the 40 miles per gallon). Because the price of
gas stays the same, that will cost him 1.5 x 80 120 dollars each month.
26. 8 inch by 10 inch piece of cardboard has an area of 8 x 10 80 square inches. A 16 inch by 20 inch
piece of cardboard has an area of 16 x 20 = 320 square inches.
2 dollars
320 yquare-incfiéS x 8 dollars
80 ±quare-irtcfiéS
27. 48 Each jar of honey costs 9 +4 = 2.25 dollars. She can sell each jar for 15-33 = 5 dollars. That's a profit
of 5 — 2.25 2.75 dollars per jar. To make a profit of 132 dollars, she would have to sell 132 + 2.75 48
jars.
28. B Working at the slowest pace, Jason would take 100 +6 16.67 hours. Working at the fastest pace, he
would take 100 + 8 — 12.5 hours. The only answer choice between those two numbers is 16.
29.
30. @Jessica runs at a rate of 4 yards per second. Let t be the time it takes for Jessica to overtake Yoona. We
can make an equation with the left side being Yoona's distance and the right side being Jessica's distance.
30 +t 4t
30 3t
10 t
It takes 10 seconds for Jessica to catch up to Yoona. In that time, Jessica runs 4(10) 40 yards.
262
Chapter 6: Expressions
CHAPTER EXERCISE:
3. @Expanding,
(x2 + y) (y + z) x2y + x2z + Y2 + yz
5x +7
2 3 6 6
6
Now, 1 over this result means we can flip it:
x x x
x
1 x 2x — 1
2
x x
10. @Combining like terms, we get 3x3 + (8x2 + 7x2) + (—4x llx) —7— 3x3 + 15x2 - 15x
12.
3 36y2 + 72y2 1 3
2 72y2 2 2
263
19.
27T
XY + XZ - X 1
X(Y+Z-I)—
—1
20.
6.
7th
7.
8. 2x ¯ Y — xy
S — 27Tr2 2x — y(l x
27tr
bc
10. a
I—x
bc
11. d 21. First, cross-multiply.
2ac ab +b
12. m 2ac ab
15. a
bx
3t
47T2L
17, g
23. Divide both sides by 3 to get x + 2y
18. p — —q
7T2r2 24. Multiply both sides by 2 to get 2x + 10—@
by 2 to get 4t —
264
3p — 311 2p 211
33.
p 5h
7X2 +3
k(x2 + 4) + ky
-B 2
7x2 +3
k(x2 y)
2
27. Cross multiply.
7x2 +3
1
2(x2 4 Y)
1
34.
4x+1
29. p b
(x3 — x2)(x5 — x4)
b
1
x3
l)
30. m b
x —3
1
31. n
5x2 —3
265
CHAPTER EXERCISE:
16 — 16
16 n + 8 n —E 16 -1)
16n —o fi
m
10. Multiply both sides by 2 to get 4,
n
n 1
which means Then,
b
1
ac n 1
b ac
2m 24 8
266
14. 18. @
6 d
3
18 a
2
1
— 81 2 24
x — 77
12
11
15.
19.
10
- 2y)
3x — 6y
3x — 6y + 3z
6
x — 2y + z
36
20.
16.
8 + 5x xy2+x Y2 -1—0
8 + 5x 2x 10
-18
—6
Since Y2 + 1 is always positive, x must equal
1.
17. Cross multiply.
21.
X X 1.2
6 42 ITZ2g — 111711 g
42 x— 6x + 72 ITZI + 1112
6 6
IT12g a(ml + m2)
Now, nqg
x 2
aold
267
Thus, r 13
268
x2 + 9y2 + 42
+ 6xy 9M + _4-42
¯ 42
22 — 49
a + 5b
5b
(x x(x — 4)
—4 X 4x
269
1 1 1
yp+xp —xy
yp — xy — xp
yp x(y p)
6x2 -b cx 7
mx 23 — I) 41
+ mX 23 12x2 + 6x — 36x 18 41
— x4 + (k 2)x3 2kx2 - 3x + 6
Comparing this to x4 + 7x3 — 18x2 — 3x + 6, we can see that k -2 7 and -2k —18. In both cases,
-1) —1)
311 3+2n 2 2n — 3012 - 1)
2
n 3 -3
n — 3 or — 2. Because n > 0, n — 3.
270
lox - 28 4
2
0 x ¯ I Ox 24
0
11
12. Notice that x 2 (x + l)(x 1) on the right hand side. It's then easy to see that we should
2
= 35
- 35
35
6x — 33
11
2
271
-11
5y — —11
3 —11
14 y — 14
y 1
2. From the first equation, y — 20 2x. Plugging this into the second equation,
6x -5(20 - 2x) — 12
6x - 100 + lox — 12
16x 112
We already know the answer is (D) at this point, but just in case, y 20 2(7) 6.
3. B Add the two equations to get 7x — 7y 35. Dividing both sides by 7, x —y 5. We can multiply
both sides by —1 to get y — x —5.
4. C The fastest way to do this problem is to subtract the second equation from the first, which yields
5. In the first equation, we can move 3x to the right hand side to get y — —5x + 8. Substituting this into
the second equation,
-10
16 -10
-131 -26
7. [0] From the first equation, we can isolate y to get y —5x 2. Substituting this into the second equation,
2(2x - 1) = - 2)
3 15X 6
15x +9
-11 llx
Finally, y —
272
8. @Divide the first equation by 2 to get x — 2y 4. We can't get the coefficients to match (—2 vs. 2 for
the y's). Therefore, the system has one solution. In fact, we can even solve this system by adding the two
equations to get 2x 8, x 4, which makes y 0.
9. @To get the same coefficients, multiply the first equation by —2 to get —4x + I()y — —2a. Now we can
see that —2a —8, a 4.
10. @Multiply the first equation by —3 to get —3ax 6y —15. The constant a cannot be —1. Otherwise,
the second equation's coefficients would then be equal to the first equation's coefficients, resulting in a
system with no solution.
11. @First, multiply the first equation by 3 to get rid of the fraction: 12x —y —24. Next, substitute the
second equation into the first,
— + 16) ¯ ¯ 24
12x - 4x 16 -24
8x —8
12. 10 We can isolate x in the second equation to get x y — 18. Substituting this into the first equation,
Y — o.5(y — 18) + 14
Y o.5y _ 9 14
o.5y 5
Y 10
13. match the coefficients, multiply the first equation by 18 to get 6x — 3y == 72. We can then see that
a 3 ifthe system is to have no solution.
14. Divide the first equation by 3 to get x — 2y == 5. Divide the second equation by —2 to get x — 2y 5.
15. For a system to have infinitely many solutions, the equations must essentially be the same. Looking
at the constants, we can make them match by multiplying the second equation by 2. The equations then
look like this:
mx —
6y 10
4x 2ny — 10
m 4
Now it's easy to see that m — 4 and 2n 6, n 3. Finally,
n
273
—3
—3
6
X — 36
Therefore, y — 36+3 9.
17. Let s, m, and I be the weights of small, medium, and large jars, respectively. Based on the information,
we can create the following two equations:
16s 2m I
To get the weight of the large jar in terms of the weight of the small jar, we need to get rid of m, the weight
of the medium jar. We could certainly use elimination, but here, we'll use substitution. Isolating m in the
second equation, m = I — 4s. Substituting this into the first equation, we get
16s = — 4s) + 1
16s 21 — 8s + I
24s 31
Eight small jars are needed to match the weight of one large jar.
18. D Since there were 30 questions, James must have had 30 answers, x + y 30. The points he earned
from correct answers total 5x. The points he lost from incorrect answers total 2y. Therefore,5x 2y 59.
19. 5 Let a and b be the number points you get for hitting regions A and B, respectively. From the
information, we can form the following two equations:
a +2b — 18
2a +b 21
To solve for b, multiply the first equation by 2 and subtract to get 3b 15, b 5.
4r + 8c _ 144
r + c 30
To solve for r, multiply the second equation by 8 and subtract to get —4r — -96, r — 24.
274
CHAPTER EXERCISE:
X ¯4 ¯ 14
3
—x —4> —x — 10
4
3x - 16 > 2x - 40
3. C The shaded region falls below the horizontal line y 3, soy < 3. The shaded region also stays above
y — x, soy > x.
4. @Let's say Jerry's estimate, m, is 100 marbles. If the actual number of marbles is within 10 of that
estimate, then the actual number must be at least 90 and at most 110. Using variables, m — 10 n <
3n — 6 > —4n + 36
711 > 42
7. @The shaded region is below the horizontal line y = 3 but above the horizontal line y -3. Therefore,
y —3 and y 3.
16
8. The time Harry spends on the bus is — hours and the time he spends on the train is — hours. Since
8 16
the total number of hours is never greater than 1, —+ — < 1.
275
9. If the distributor contracts out to Company A for x hours, then it contracts out to Company B for
10 — x hours. Company A then produces 80x cartons and Company B produces 140(10 — x) cartons.
Setting up the inequality,
80x + 140(10 - x) > 1, 100
3
10. @The line going from the bottom-left to the top-right must be y —x
2
+ 2 and the line going from the
top-left to the bottom-right must be y —2x + 5 (based on the slopes and y-intercepts). Answer (D)
3
correctly shades in the region above y — —x + 2 and below y —
2
11. @Plug in x — 1, y — 20 into the first inequality to get 20 > 15 + a, 5 > a. Do the same for the second
inequality to get 20 < 5 b, 15 < b. So, a is less than 5 and b is greater than 15. The difference between
the two must be more than 15 — 5 — 10. Among the answer choices, 12 is the only one that is greater than
10.
12. One manicure takes 1/3 of an hour. One pedicure takes 1/2 an hour. The total number of hours she
spends doing manicures and pedicures must be less than or equal to 30, so —m + —p 30. She earns
25m for the manicures and 40p for the pedicures. Altogether, 25m + 40p 2 900.
13. @From the given inequality, x 3k + 12. Subtracting 12 from both sides gives x — 12 3k, which
confirms that I is always true.
From the given inequality, 3k + 12 k, which means 2k > —12, k > —6, so II must also be true.
From the given inequality, k x. Subtracting k from both sides gives 0 x — k. Therefore, Ill must also
be true.
9 10
14.
4
< x < — Let's solve these separately. First,
20
3
17 16 10
Putting the two results together, — < x < —. Therefore, — < x — 2 < —.
3
15. the area is at least 300, then xy 300. The perimeter of the rectangular garden is 2x + 2y, so
2x + 2y 70, which reduces to x +y 35.
16. C I is not always true because of negative values. Take a — —5 and b 2 for example. a < b, but
a > b2. II is definitely true. It's the equivalent of multiplying both sides by 2. Ill is also true. It's the
equivalent of multiplying both sides by —1, which necessitates a sign change.
276
1. [01 The square of the sum of x and y is 7. @Converting 75% and 85% to fractions in
(x + y)2. The product of x and y is xy. The the equation below,
question asks for the difference: (x + xy
3 17
-(68) n
4 20
17
98 x - 10) 51
20
98 X — 3X - 30
—128
x — 32
60 n
3. 18
15 +N 2
4
x —16 Cross multiplying,
18
+N 15
8 + 2N — 15 + N
4. 5 or 10 Based on the information, we can
form the equation 4x + 10y 60. Now it's
just a matter of guess and check. Since x and
y are integers, it won't be long before we find 9. They start with the same number x. Once
something that works. For example, Alice gives 16 to Julie, Alice is left with x — 16
x 5, y 4 is one possible solution. and Julie then has x + 16.
277
11. Let x be the number of trades. Each trade, 15. Let x be the number of seashells that Carl
Ian has a net gain of 1 card while Jason has a
net loss of 1 card.
has. Bob then has —x seashells and Alex has
3
20 -b ¯ 44
x x —x seashells.
2
Since Alex and Bob together
2x — 24 have 60 seashells,
x — 12
1
— 60
2
12. Making an equation to figure out x, 2x — 60
21
x — 30
24 Carl has 30 seashells.
12
tie — 3(shirt) —k
30 3(40) - k
30 120 -k
k — 90
278
1. A vertical line that intersects the x-axis at 5. the two lines intersect at the point (2, 8),
3 has an equation of x = 3. then both lines must pass through that point.
Plugging the point into the equation of the
second line, we can solve for b,
1 —bx
3 8
1
12 — 2a
6 a
3 1
3' The slope of line I is
9 3
6.
Using point-slope form,
Y2 Yl 2 1
m(x — Xi) —4 2
1
7. @From the graph, slope m is positive and
y-intercept b is negative. Therefore, mb < 0.
1
279
10. @
10 —4 2
3
6 2
3
Cross multiplying,
— 18
2x -2 — 18
20
x — 10
f(o) 10.
d
is perpendicular to the first, —2, which
280
1. @The slope is —3, which means the water level decreases by 3 feet each day.
2. B The value 18 refers to the slope of —18, which means the number of loaves remaining decreases by 18
each hour. This implies that the bakery sells 18 loaves each hour.
3. @The y-intercept of 500 means that when n 0 (when there were no videos on the site), there were 500
members.
4. @The number 2 refers to the slope of —2, which means two fewer teaspoons of sugar should be added
for every teaspoon of honey already in the beverage. Don't be fooled by answers (C) and (D), which
"reverse" the x and the y (h and s, in this case). The slope is always the change in y for each unit increase
in x, not the other way around.
5. The salesperson earns a commission, but on what? The amount of money he or she brings in. To get
that,we must multiply the number of cars sold by the average price of each car. Since x and c already
represent the commission rate and the number of cars sold, respectively, the number 2,000 must represent
the average price of each car.
6. @The number 2,000 refers to the slope, which means a town's estimated population increases by 2,000
for each additional school in the town.
7. @The number 4 refers to the slope of —4, which means an increase of 10 C decreases the number of
hours until a gallon of milk goes sour by 4. In other words, the milk goes sour 4 hours faster.
8. @When — t 0, there is no time left in the auction. The auction has finished. Therefore, the 900 is the
final auction price of the lamp.
9. @Because it's the slope, the 1.30 can be thought of as the exchange rate, converting U.S. dollars into
euros. But after the conversion, 1.50 is subtracted away, which means you get 1.50 euros less than you
should have. Therefore, the best interpretation of the 1.50 y-intercept is a 1.50 euro fee the bank charges
to do the conversion.
2
10. see the answer more clearly, we can put the equation into y = mx + b form: — —x t -l- The slope
5
is , or 0.4, which means the load time increases by 0.4 seconds for each image on the web page.
11. @The slope is the change in y (daily profit) for each unit change in x (cakes sold).
12. @Notice that the y-intercept is negative. It is the bakery's profit when no cakes are sold. Therefore,
anything that varies with the number of cakes sold is incorrect. For example, answer (D) is wrong because
the cost of the cakes that didn't sell depends on how many the bakery did sell. It's not a fixed number
like the y-intercept is. The best interpretation of the y-intercept is the cost of running the bakery (rent,
labor, machinery, etc.), which is likely a fixed number.
13. @The solution means that the bakery's daily profit is zero when 5 cakes
(5, 0) are sold. Therefore,
selling five cakes is enough to break-even with daily expenses.
14. The slope of the equation is 5, which means the temperature goes up by 5 degrees every hour. So
every half hour (30 minutes), the temperature goes up by 0.5 x 5 — 2.5 degrees.
281
1
15. @Putting the equation into y mx + b form, y — —x + 7. The slope of means that one more turtle
2
requires an additional half a gallon of water. So Ill is true.
Getting x in terms of y, x 2y 14. The "slope" of 2 means that 1 more gallon of water can support two
more turtles. So I is true.
16. C Because this question is asking for the change in "x" per change in "y" (the reverse of slope), we need
to rearrange the equation to get x in terms of C.
c— 1.5 + 2.5x
o.4C 0.6+ x
x 0.4C — 0.6
The slope here is 0.4, which means the weight of a shipment increases by 0.4 pounds per dollar increase
in the mailing cost. So a 10 dollar increase in the mailing cost is equivalent to a weight increase of
10 x 0.4 4 pounds.
282
1. @Check each answer choice to see whether f (0) 21, and f (3) = 29. The only function
that satisfies all three is (D).
2. [01 f (x) g(x) when the two graphs intersect. They intersect at 3 points, so there must be 3 values of x
where f (x) g(x).
4. @Draw a horizontal line at y — 3. This line intersects f (x) four times, so there are four solutions (four
values of x for which f (x) 3).
5. @Plug in —3 and 3 into each of the answer choices to see whether you get the same value. If you're
smart about it, you'll realize that answer (C) has an x2, which always gives a positive value. Testing (C)
out, f (—3) = 3(—3)2 + 1 — 28 and f (3) 3(3)2 + 1 28. The answer is indeed (C).
32
—8
8. C We plug in values to solve for a and b. Plugging in (0, —2), —2 +b b. So, b —2. Plugging
in (1, 3),
10. @The x-intercepts of —3 and 2 mean that f (x) must have factors of (x + 3) and (x 2). That eliminates
(C) and (D). A y-intercept of 12 means that when we plugin x 0, f (x) 12. Only answer (B) meets all
these conditions.
12. @Draw a horizontal line at y c, passing through (0, c). This horizontal line intersects with f three
times. That means there are 3 values of x for which f (x) = c.
13. @
2f(k) —8
f(k)
283
15. (1, 2) cannot be on the graph of y since an x-value of 1 would result in division by 0.
16. D
3a
3a — 36
12
18' g(c) 5, then c 1 since 1 is the only input that gives an output of 5. Then, f (c) — 3.
—3a +5
20
3a — -15
a —5
21. f (8) 4(8) — 3 29. Testing each answer choice to see which one yields 29, we see that g(8) —
3(8) +5 29.
x
o 3
A AOB is a right triangle with a base of 3 and a height of 9. Using the pythagorean theorem,
A02 + 0B2 AB2
92 + 32 AB2
90 AB2
3 10
284
23. The graph of g is 4 units up from where f is, but because the slope of f is —2, the x and y intercepts
of g will not increase by the same amount. They'll increase in a ratio of 2:1. So when the y-intercept gets
shifted up by 4, the x-intercept gets shifted to the right by 2. The new x-intercept is therefore 1 + 2 3.
Another way to do this is to actually solve for the x-intercept. Using slope-intercept form, we get f (x) —
—2x 2. Adding 4 to get the equation of g, g(x) — —2x + 6. Setting g(x) 0 and solving for x to get the
x-intercept, we get x 3.
24. The function g(x) is a line with a slope of 1 and a y-intercept of k. If you draw g(x) with the different
possibilities for kfrom the answer choices, you'll see that there's an intersection of 3 points with f (x)
only when k — 1 as shown below.
x
2 1 o 2
a 12
12
- 12 —o
Since a > 0, a
285
y = -3x 10
The x-intercepts are 5 and —2. The distance between them is 5 — (—2) 7.
x
2(1) 2 2
3. .5
If you had trouble factoring this, remember that you can always use the quadratic formula. Since a < 1,
1
or 0.5.
2'
4. D Move the 8 to the left side to get 3x2 + 10x 8 0. Now, we can either use the quadratic formula or
factor. In this case, we'll go with factoring.
2
So, x — 4 or x — —. Since a > b, b must be —4 and b2 — 16.
3
5. @Expanding everything,
4x 12x +9
4x 16x + 4 —o
b —16
The sum of the solutions is
a 4
286
3 —x +cx
The system of equations will have two solutions if the equation above has two solutions. For the equation
above to have two solutions, the discriminant, b2 — 4ac, must be positive.
2
c 12 > o
c2 > 12
Testing each of the answer choices, only answer (A), —4, gives a value bigger than 12 when squared.
7. find the intersection points, treat the two equations as a system of equations. Substituting the first
4 5
9
+3
The y-coordinates of the intersection points must be 4 (from the first equation), so the two points of
intersection are (—5, 4) and (1, 4).
8. C Because the vertex is at (3, —8), the answer must be either (A) or (C). Because the parabola passes
through (1, 0), we can use that point to test out our two potential answers. When we plug in x 1 into
10. find the minimum number of mattresses the company must sell so that it doesn't lose money, set
(m - 400) (m + 300) = O
m —300,400
Since it doesn't make sense for the number of mattresses sold to be negative, m 400. If you had trouble
factoring the equation above (it's tough), the graphing calculator and the quadratic forrnula are both
good alternatives.
287
—3 —ax +4x—4
For the system to have one real solution, the equation above should have only one real solution. In other
words, the discriminant, b2 — 4ac, must equal 0.
(4)2 — 40) —o
¯
16 + —0
—16
a —4
—y x2 — 6x 20
Now divide the middle term by 2 to get —3 and square that result to get 9. We put the —3 inside the
parentheses with x and subtract the 9 at the end.
2
— 20 — 9
(x - +29
13. One of the x-intercepts is 3. Since the x-coordinate of the vertex, 5, must lie at the midpoint of the
two x-intercepts, the other x-intercept is 7. Therefore, k 7, giving us y a(x — 3) (x — 7). We can now
plug in the vertex as a point to solve for a.
-32 7)
-32
--32 4a
a 8
k 2(3) +b
k — (3)2 +3b +5
This is a system of equations. Substituting the first equation into the second,
2(3) 4b (3)2 3b +5
— 3b + 14
8 — 2b
b —4
288
8 —o
8 0
x 2
1
3x2 4
1 6x2 2
3x2
6x 4
_l_ 2
6x
8
1
This result can be expressed as
This result can be expressed as 8
from which A x 2.
1
from which Q
7. @This question is asking you to divide the
3. 6 This question is asking you to divide the expression by x + 1 and write the result in the
expression by 2x — 1 and write the result in form of
the form of Dividend — Quotient x Divisor + Remainder.
Dividend — Quotient x Divisor + Remainder.
6
2x + 1
x 1 2x2 3
2x-1 4x2 + 5
2x2
4x2
6x 3
_l_ 5
6x 6
1
3
6
Therefore, 2x2 3 — (2x
Therefore, 4x2 +5= (2x + 1) (2x
289
8. @This question is asking you to divide the 13. A From the remainder theorem, 3x 1 must
expression by x 2 and write the result in the
form of be a factor of p(x) if p
Dividend Quotient x Divisor + Remainder,
where ax + b is the quotient and c is the
remainder.
x2 — 2x
6x 9
6x 12
Therefore, x2 + 4x 9 (x + 6) (x — 2) + 3.
Finally, a — 1, b 6, c 3, and a + b + c — 10.
p(2) 23 +22-5(2) +3 5.
p(l) — 1 +12 — 5(1) +3 0.
p(—3) 5(—3) +3 — 0.
Therefore, p(x) is divisible by x — I and x + 3.
+ _ + 5(1) —o
a b -3—5 —o
Adding the equations together,
2a -6=0
290
1.
—5-3i+2 5i -7 -8i
2.
i4 + 3i2 + 2
(6 + 20 (2 + 5i) — 12 + + 4i + 12 ¯ 2 + 34i
Therefore, a —
+2) -2(5 10
3i(i 2) — — 1) —
7.
(i4)23 i = (1)23
8.
32 6i
10.
1 1 1 1 1
—1+1
Multiplying both top and bottom by i,
1
—i
11.
(3
3 — i — 9i + 312 3 IOi + 31 •2
3 IOi —3 -IOi
9 9 — i2 9 1 10
12.
22 2i — 2i+i 2 4 4 3 4
4 5 5 5
291
3(1) I ¯ 41 4
2. Only the expression in answer (B) can equal —5 (when x 1 or 3). Because the absolute value of
anything is always greater than or equal to 0, the other answer choices can never reach —5.
3. Recall that the graph of y IXI is a V-shape centered at the origin. The graph pictured is also
V-shaped but converges at y 2, which means ithas shifted two units down. Therefore, the equation
of the graph is y — xl — 2. Note that y — lx — 21 shifts the graph two units to the right, NOT two units
down.
4. D Test each of the answer choices, making sure to include the negative possibilities. For example, the
answer is not (A) because when x 2 or — 2, x — 31 is not greater than 10. However, lx — 31 is greater
than 10 when x -8.
5. Smart trial and error is the fastest way to find the bounds for x. The lower bound for x is —8 and the
upper bound is —4. There are 5 integers between —4 and —8 (inclusive). If we wanted to do this problem
more mathematically, we could set up the following equation:
Subtracting 6,
-3
Since x is an integer,
6. n is positive,
n —2 — 10
n — 12
If n is negative,
n 2 -10
—8
x-axis. All points with positive y-values stay the same. Graph (D) is the one that shows this correctly.
292
we're looking for an answer choice that gives 4 when b 7. (C) and (E) are the only choices that do
that. Now let's make up another number, x 8. Then b 18 — 101 = 2, and b — x = 2 — 8 -6. The
only answer choice that gives us —6 when b 2 is (C). If we had chosen numbers that didn't narrow our
choices down, then we would have kept guessing and checking. If you use this strategy wisely, however,
you'll never have to guess for too long.
To do this question mathematically, we have to realize that when x < 10, x 10 is always negative.
Therefore,
x -10 —b
x —10 b
9. C The midpoint of 6— and 6— is the average: 6 +6 /2 6—. The midpoint is — away from the
boundaries of the accepted range for the length of a hot dog. So whatever h is, it must be within of the
midpoint:
1
10. D The midpoint of 400 and 410 is the average: (400 + 410)/ 2 The midpoint is 5 away from the
405.
boundaries of the accepted range for the length of a roll of tape. So whatever I is, it must be within 5 of
the midpoint:
II -4051 < 5
11. B There are two possible values of x, 3 and —1. There are two possible values of y, 1 and —5. We get
the smallest possible value of xy when x 3 and y — —5, in which case xy -15.
This means that Ill is true. Because a must be a fraction, a2 < I, so II is also true. However, I is not always
293
I. Using the exterior angle theorem, 5. Because alternate interior angles are
equal, one of the missing angles of the lower
triangle is also a:
140 50 +j
90 =j
1
do
7. C The angles form a circle, which means
theysum to 3600.
180
2x + 40 — 180
140
x — 70
294
10. @We can figure out two angles within the 15• @Angle a is equal to 180 -60 — 120.
triangle: 1000 and 500. Because y is an Angle b is equal to 180 40 — 140. Finally,
exterior angle, we can use the exterior angle a —I— b — 120 —I— 140 — 260.
theorem to get its value:
11. c
600
m
Shaded Angles Angles of Rectangle
+ Angles of Quadrilateral 600 400 b
n
— 360 + 360
720
Finally,
x 120 - 90 30
295
relationship, x 61/2.
The area is then — (8) (3) — 12.
4. 8 Triangles ABE and DCE are similar. 9. @The side length of the square is — 2.
Therefore, Draw the height of the triangle to create two
30 — 60 — 90 triangles:
CD
CE BE
6
3 4
8
1 1
296
2 6
16. @We can use the pythagorean theorem to
find BC:
Cross multiplying,
AC2 + A 132 — BC2
122 + 92 — BC2
225 BC2
15 BC
11. @To satisfy the triangle inequality theorem
(any two sides of a triangle must sum up to Note that this is a multiple of the 3 -4-5
be greater than the third side), x + y must be triangle.
greater than whatever z is. z cannot be 8,
because then x + y would add up to just 2. In c
fact, z cannot be 5, 6, 7, or 8 because in all
HC
9
297
17. If BC is the shortest side in the isosceles 20. Using the pythagorean theorem,
triangle, then AB AC and ZA is the
smallest angle. At the same time, we want to 82 + x2
maximize ZA so that Z B is minimized. Now
if all the angles were 600, then the triangle 64 + x2 x2 + 4x + 4
would be equilateral and BC wouldn't be the 64
shortest side. So we need to decrease ZA to
the next highest option, 500 , which minimizes
15 x
ZB to 130 + 2 650.
1
2
650 500 2
c 1
use the 8 — 15 — 17 right triangle. All triangles in the diagram are 45 — 45 — 90,
which means W Z — XY and
WX zy — 2v/ä. The perimeter of WXYZ is
17
8 6Vä.
22. @From the coordinates, AB — 7 and
z
15 BC Because ZABC is a right angle,
7.
20
triangleABC is a 45 — 45 90 triangle.
Therefore, the measure of ZBAC 450
12
which is 450 x — radians.
1800 4
25 Therefore, n —
24 24
24. The radii extending to the corners of the
triangle split the circle into three equal parts,
so the measure of angle ADB is
28 7
360 3 — 1200. In radians, this is
27t
24 —I— 28 25 7 28 112 1200 x
1800 3
298
DB
Area ADEF
of (xv6)2 3x2 1
2 < a < 12
2 < b < 12
299
30. Because the equilateral triangle lies on a 32. @Draw the height from A as shown below.
side of the square, all their sides are equal, AADB turns out to be a 30 60 90 triangle.
which means A ABE and ADCE are isosceles.
c
600 1200
c
6
The area is
Finally,
ZBEC — 3600 750 750 600 — 1500.
-1)
1 ITC
3300 x
1800 6
Using the pythagorean theorem,
34. Because DBCE is a square, DB 3 and
92 + 32 ¯ A 132 triangles ABD and DEO are similar (their
angles are the same). Using the pythagorean
90 AB2
theorem, DO 5. Using the similarity,
90
AD DO
3 10 DB OE
AD 5
3 4
15
AD — 3.75
4
300
35. @
x
4
12
3x
12v6
x = 3v6
DE BC
12
3 5
36
— 7.2
5
301
CHAPTER EXERCISE:
1. @The circumference of the circle is 27tr. The 6. @Because Z BAC is formed from the
square divides the circle into four equal arcs. endpoints of a diameter, its measure is 900.
27Tr nr Since AB — 1 and AC 2, A ABC is a
Therefore, the length of arc A PD is 30 60 90 triangle and Z BAC — 600.
4 2
2
— 367T
97T
107T 5
The circumference of the circle is which means
367T ¯ 18 of the entire circle,
27tr = 27T(6) — 1271. The perimeter of one
5
region is made up of two radii and one-eighth central angle ACB must be of 360.
18
of the circumference.
5
x 3600 1000
6+6+ —(127T) 12 + 1.571 18
57T
1000 x
2 — 497T 180 9
1
—r2Ø when 9, the measure of the central
The standard form of a circle with center 2
(h, k) and radius r is (x — + (y — 2
angle, is in radians.
So the equation of the circle is
(x 4-2) 2 -I— Y2 49 1
—r2e 107T
2
5. @The arc measure of AB is twice the 1
measure of the inscribed angle. Therefore, — (6) 29 107T
2
600 1
AB 600, which is — of the 180 107T
3600 6
circumference.
302
9. 4,5,6, or 7 The arc length can be 12. @Circle P and circle 11 each have an area of
etermine by ro when 0, the measure of the 97T. To get the shaded region, we
central angle, is expressed in radians. need to subtract out the unshaded portions of
Therefore, the arc length must be greater than both circles. Because APHII is equilateral,
3.92 and less than 5 7.85.
ZHPLI and ZHU P are both 600 , which means
the unshaded sectors are each one-sixth of
their respective circles (600 is one-sixth of
We could've done this question by converting
radians back to degrees but the process 3600).
247T
360
36 — 24
10
To get the shaded region, we need to subtract
out the four quarter-circles from the square.
12
The square has an area of 8 x8 = 64. The 10
four quarter-circles make up one circle with 120 —Y
an area of 167T. The area of the
shaded region is then 64 167T. If y is 120, then x and x have to add up to 60.
Therefore, x 30.
11. @Unraveling the cylinder gives a rectangle 14. @From the information given, AB 8,
with a base equal to the circumference and a
BC 4, and because AC is tangent to circle B,
height equal to the height of the cylinder:
ZACB is a right angle. Using the
pythagorean theorem to find AC,
—b 42 — 82
AC2 _ 48
27tr
27Trh + 27Tr2 27T(4) (5) + 15. @The circle has center (—2, —4) and radius
— 407T + 327T 2. If you draw this circle out, you'll see that
727T
it's tangent only to the y-axis.
303
1' Since cosx sin(90 x), 5. @After drawing the right triangle, we let
cos 400 sin 500 a. the opposite side be m and the adjacent side
3 be 1.
1
3
Using the pythagorean theorem, the
hypotenuse is m2 + 1. Therefore,
4 m
sin x —
Tti2 I
Using the pythagorean theorem, the
hypotenuse is 5 (this is a 3 — 4 — 5 triangle). 6. @The fact that AB — 5 is irrelevant since
4 the ratios of the sides will always be the same
Therefore, cos x — — —08
5 for proportional triangles. Instead of actually
trying to figure out the lengths of the sides,
3. Since sin 0 cos(90 0) and
let's use a triangle that's easier to work with.
cos0 sin(90 — 0),
2 sin 0 + 2 cos 0
3
a 3 — 4 — 5 triangle).
30
7
sin B + cos B
5 5 5
c
7. 12
5 1
cos A sin x —
6 4
AC 5 3 1
30 6 4
AC — 25
304
8.
5
Since tan B 2.4
12
, we can let
12. @This question is basically asking for the
13 5 quadrants in which sin 0 can equal cos 9. For
AC — 12 and AB 5. Using the pythagorean them to be equal, they must have the same
theorem, BC — 13. Since the two triangles are sign. That rules out option II since sine is
positive in the second quadrant while cosine
similar,
is negative. In quadrant I, sine and cosine are
sin 58 sin 5m — 12
58 —5m 12
70 5m
m¯ 14
AC2 82 152
AC2 — 289
17
BC 15
Finally, cos C AC ¯ 17 •
sin 9
cos 9 BC
1
Area of triangle
2
1
(cos 9) (sin 0)
sin 9 cos 9
2
305
Even though the times were estimated, it's clear that C represents the greatest commute time.
2. C The vertical distance between the points at 2004 and 2006 is the smallest among the answer choices.
3. @The points corresponding to July through September are the highest in both 2013 and 2014.
150 3
250 ¯ 5
5. A San Diego is the only city for which the estimated bar is lower than (to the left of) the actual bar.
4
—25% (percent decreases are negative)
40
25 - 20 1
— 25%
20 4
2 120 2
10.
3 180 3
11. @Cons01e A generated 250, OOO x 100 — $25, 000, 000. Comsole B generated 225, OOO x 150 — $33, 750, 000.
Console D generated 125, OOO x 250 — $31, 250,000. Console E generated 50, OOO x 300 — $15,000, 000.
Console B generated the most revenue.
12. 3, Company Y's profit was about 6 million and Company X's profit was about 12 million
Quarter
(twice Company Y's). In no other quarter was Company X's profit as close to being twice Company Y's.
306
13. c Alabama spent a combined 15 + 2.5 17.5 billion. Alaska spent 7.5 + 7.5 15 billion. Arizona spent
12.5 + 7.5 20 billion. Arkansas spent 10 +5 — 15 billion. Arizona spent the most.
14. 44 During the first two hours, Jeremy answered 4 calls per hour for a total of 2 x 4 —
8 calls. During
the next three hours, Jeremy answered 8 calls per hour for a total of 3 x 8 = 24 During the final
calls.
two hours, Jeremy answered 6 calls per hour for a total of 2 x 6 12 calls. He answered a total of
8 + 24 12 — 44 calls.
15. From the graph, we can see that it takes Greg's glucose levels 2.5 hours to return to their initial value
(140 mg/dL) after breakfast and 8 — 4 = 4 hours to return to their initial value (also 140 mg/dL) after
dinner.
4 2.5 = 1.5
16. 6 At 30 miles per hour, Car X gets 25 miles per gallon. Driving for 5 hours at 30 miles per hour covers
a total distance of 5 x 30 — 150 miles.
1 gallon
150 miles x 6 gallons
25 miles
307
2. D
Plumbers with at least 4 years of experience 40, 083 + 45, 376
46
All plumbers 183, 885
4. D The percentage of silver cars is 100 — 20 —33 10 14 23. Red and silver make up 20 23 _ 43
percent of the cars.
Mattresses 47 61 68 22 198
Total 82 101 88 77 348
29 32
7. @For the USA, the probability is 104
0.28. For Russia, the probability is
82
0.39. For Great Britain,
19 14
the probability is —
65
0.29. For Germany, the probability is —
44
0.32. The country with the highest
probability is Russia.
Cartilaginous fish species in the Philippines Cartilaginous fish species in New Caledonia
Total fish species in the Philippines Total fish species in New Caledonia
400 300 1 1 2
400+ 800 300 + 1,200 5 15
308
10.
II. @
Duplex with 2 family members or less 22 + 12 17
Duplex 23
12. @The total number of samples contaminated with Chemical A is (450 x 0.08) + (550 x 0.06) — 69.
Contaminated samples 69
— 0.069
All samples 1, ooo
13. @The test is incorrect when it gives positive indicators for patients who don't have the virus and
negative indicators for patients who do, a total of 30 + 50 — 80 occurrences.
80 8
1000 ¯ 100 80/0
14. @The number of patients cured by the sugar pill is 90 3 30. The number of patients who weren't
5
cured by the sugar pill is 30 x — 75.
2
Sugar Pill 30 75
15. 240 Let the number of seniors who prefer gym equipment be x.
x 1
Cross multiplying,
X + 160
2x 160
x — 80
CHAPTER EXERCISE:
1. The sum of the heights in the first class is 14 x 63 882. The sum of the heights in the second class is
21 x 68 — 1, 428. The sum of the heights in the combined class is then 882 -b 1428 2, 310. The average
height is
2. @The sum of all five of Kristie's test scores is 5 x 94 470. The sum of her last three test scores is
3 x 92 = 276. The difference between these two sums is the sum of her first two test scores: 470 — 276
194
194. The average of her first two test scores is then — 97.
2
3. @Because there are 20 editors, the median is the average of the 10th and 11th editors' number of books
read. From the graph, the 10th and 11th editors both read 10 to 15 books last year, which means the
average must also be between 10 and 15. The only answer choice between 10 and 15 is 12.
5. @The standard deviation decreases the most when the outliers, the data points furthest away from the
mean, are removed. The outliers here are the Rhone and the Vosges.
6. Even though the frequencies are the same, the travel times themselves are more spread out for Bus
B. The travel times for Bus A are much closer together. Therefore, the standard deviation of travel times
for Bus A is smaller.
7. C The median weight is represented by the 10th kayak (47 pounds for both Company A and Company
B). The median weight is the same for both companies.
8. The median is represented by the average of the 14th and 15th days, both of which are 670 F.
9. @By definition, at least half the values are greater than or equal to the median and at least half the
values are less than or equal to the median.
10. range of 3 days means the difference between the longest shelf life and the shortest shelf life among
the units is 3. This could be 10 days vs. 13 days or 25 days vs. 28 days. The range says nothing about the
mean or median.
(5 x 2) (6 x I) (8 x 4) —b (9 x 2) —b (10 x I) 76
Mean — 7.6
2+1 +4+2+1 10
Range — 10 — 5 5
310
75 83 87 + 87 + 90 + 91 4_ 98
The average is 87.3. The mode is 87. The median is also 87. The
7
range is 98 75 23. From these numbers, I is false, II is false, and Ill is true.
13. @Based on the heights of the bars in the graph, the mean in School A is clearly higher. The median in
School A is represented by the 10th class (4 films) and the median in School B is represented by the 8th
class (also 4 films). The median is the same for both schools.
14. @Before the 900-calorie meal is added, the median is the average of the 5th and 6th meals (550), the
mode is 550, and the range is 900 — 500 400. After the 900-calorie meal is added, the median becomes
the 6th meal (still 550), the mode is still 550, and the range is still 400. None of them change.
15. @Before the car is removed, the median is represented by the 8th car (23 mpg). After the car is removed,
themedian is represented by the average of the 7th and 8th cars (still 23 mpg). So the median stays the
same. However, the mean and the standard deviation both decrease. We're removing a data point higher
than all the others so the mean decreases. We're also reducing the spread in the data so the standard
deviation decreases.
16. First, it's easy to see that the mean will decrease since we're replacing the maximum data point with
a minimum. Now before the replacement, the range is 90 — 45 45. After the replacement, the range
is 65 — 20 45, so the range remains the same. Before the replacement, the median is represented by
the average of the 9th and 10th cars (57). After the replacement, the median is represented by 10th car
(still 57, don't forget to count the replacement as the first value). The median also remains the same.
Therefore, the mean changes the most.
311
CHAPTER EXERCISE:
1. @There are 2 points above the line of best fit when the value along the x-axis is 19.
2. C The line of best fit gives a y-value of 55 when the x-value is 75.
3. C First, the survey should be conducted with students from the university's freshman class since that's
the intended target. Secondly, the larger the sample, the more valid the results.
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4. Using proportions, Candidate A is expected to receive 250
x 500, OOO 220, OOO votes. Candidate B
is expected to receive x 500, 000 = 280, 000 votes. So Candidate B is expected to receive 280, 000
250
220, OOO 60, OOO more votes.
5. The y-intercept is the value of y when the value of x is 0. In this case, it's the average shopping time
when the store discount is 00/0 (no discount).
6. @The slope is rise over run. Because the line of best fit has a positive slope, it's the increase in revenue
for every dollar increase in advertising expenses.Note that because both revenue and advertising expenses
are expressed in thousands of dollars in the graph, they cancel out and have no effect on the interpretation
of the slope. That's why the answer isn't (B).
7. B The slope is rise over run. Because the line of best fit has a positive slope, it's the increase in box office
sales per minute increase in movie length.
8. @The y-intercept is the value of y when the value of x is 0. In this case, it's the expected number of
mistakes made when the cash prize is 0 dollars (no cash prize).
9. @This question is asking for the slope of the line of best At 20 grams of fat, there are 340 calories. At
fit.
25 grams of fat, there are 380 calories. Calculating the slope from two points,
380 -340 40
8
25 20 5
10. @The oat field whose yield is best predicted by the line of best fit is represented by the point closest to
the line. That point has an x-value of 350, which is the amount of nitrogen applied to that field.
11. @The point farthest from the line of best fit is at an x-value of 7. The total number of seats at the food
court represented by this point is 7 x 80 560.
12. D To draw a reliable conclusion about the effectiveness of the new vaccine, the patients must be
randomly assigned to their treatment. Only answer (D) leads to random assignment. Note that answer
(C) does not because the patients are allowed to group themselves as they desire. For example, three
friends might want to remain in the same group, leading to assignment that is not random.
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would take into account all the basketballs produced in Week 1 and Week 2, were also 0.5 psi apart.
That's why there's a margin of error for the samples. Answer (D) is wrong because the samples suggest
the reverse: the mean air pressure for Week 1 (8.2 psi) is greater than the mean air pressure for Week 2
(7.7 psi). Answer (C) is correct because the greater the sample size, the lower the margin of error. The
sample from Week 1 had a lower margin of error than the sample from Week 2.
14. D The lower the standard deviation (variability), the lower the margin of error. Selecting students who
are following the same daily diet plan will likely lead to the lowest standard deviation because they are
likely to be eating the same number of servings of vegetables. The other answer choices would result in
much more variability.
15. C Answer (C) best expresses the meaning of a confidence interval, which applies only to the statistical
mean and does not say anything about blue—spotted salamanders themselves. Answer (D) is wrong
because the study involved only blue-spotted salamanders, not all salamanders.
16. B The most that we can conclude is that there is a negative association between the price of food and
the population density in U.S. cities (as one goes up, the other goes down). We CANNOT conclude that
there is a cause and effect relationship between the two. We can't say that one causes the other.
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1. @Each piece is half the cylinder. 5. This question is asking for the volume of
V— 7tr2h — 487T
2. B The height of the box is 100 : 25=4
(dividing the volume by the area of the base
gives us to the height). The sides of the base 6. The shortest way to do this question is to
are 25 5 inches long. The rectangular box pretend that the block is liquefied and poured
has dimensions 5 x 5 x 4. into the aquarium. How high would the level
of the liquid rise?
4 V- lwh
5
2.5 h
5
The longer way do this question is to find
to
The top and bottom have a surface area of the original volume, add the block, find the
2(5 x 5) 50. The front and back have a
new height, and then compare it to the
surface area of 2(5 x 4) — 40. The left and
original height. While not the fastest method,
right have a surface area of 2(5 x 4) 40.
it is certainly viable.
The total surface area is 50 + 40 + 40 130.
3 hours
2887T X 9 hours
967t
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8. Since each small cube has a volume of 10. @Draw a line down the middle of the cone
23 and the volume of the outer box is
8 to form a right triangle with the radius and
83 512, there must be 512 + 8 — 64 cubes in the slant height. This triangle is a multiple of
the box. If you take away all the cubes that the 3 — 4 — 5 right triangle: 9 — 12 15. You
are touching the box, you are essentially could've used the pythagorean theorem
uncovering an inner rectangular box with a instead if you weren't aware of this. In any
square base of side 4 and a height of 6. A case, the height of the cone is 12 cm.
front view is shown below.
V volume of cone + volume of hemisphere
V — 7tr2h +
8 nr3)
V
4
The volume of this inner rectangular box is 11. @This question is essentially asking for the
4 x4 x 6 96. Since each cube has a volume volume, or the amount of room, in the crate.
of 8, there are 96 : 8 — 12 cubes that are not The room in the crate can be seen as a
touching the box, which means there are rectangular box with a length of
64 — 12 = 52 cubes that are touching. You 10 —1—1 8 inches, a width of 8 — 1 — 1 6
also could've taken the straight-forward inches, and a height of 3 1 = 2 inches.
approach of counting up the cubes along the
sides. If you took this route, you should've v 96
gotten something along the lines of
16 16 + 8+4 — 52. 12. @Cut the staircase vertically into 3 blocks.
9. @The only cubes that have exactly one face
painted black are the ones in the middle of
Volume of staircase — Volume of block 1
each side. For example, the front side has + Volume of block 2
3 x 1 3 of these cubes. Volume of block 3
3
12
4
5
Mass Density x Volume — 130 x 12 1, 560 kg
The right side has 2 x 1 2 of these cubes,
and the top has 3 x 2 — 6 of these cubes. So
far, we have 3 + 2 + 6 — 11 of these cubes. To
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