uoI}Ipe YyANOF NVHIVNITIIW INIW 3897 YIEWF LVS “eu 94} a1oj uorzyeredaad Joso]-7x0U J01N3 HIVW LVS oY] M 40) payppdp, emou yoym Ang NW) He SAT Moth Guide (4” Ed.) *19A9 UDUY 194eq PUD Peq Ss! NMd PPWN the SAT° Math Guide Fourth Edition (For use on the new SAT beginning March 2016) ESQN: 976-2523903577 © 2016 PWN Test Prep, LLC. All ight reserved. [No par ofthis book may be reproduced without writen permission fom the autor.To Pythagoras: [wish we could have chilled, bro Al king ase, sere re some people 1 need 1 thank a overwbamingly satel othe Students wie ined 0 me bale wie fied ths aie nob cre form nd 0 ‘Beta srs who pred over erly mari drs ofthe fit edition nd spate a arg ‘bor of sporaphical and grammatical ra You guy arth BestsTable of Contents Intodcton How to Use This Book General Test Sates. Miscellaneous Things You Must Know Techniques. Plugging in Bachsolving Intrlae: Look fr Trend. Heart of Algebra, “Trarlating between Words and Math. Algebraic Manipal, Solving Stems of Linear Equations Lines Aso Vale Passport to Advanced Math Fanetons. Exponents and Exponential Functions. undeats Binomial Squares and Diferonce of Twe Squares. Parola, Polynomiais ‘Working with danced Systems of Equations. Problem Solving and Data Aras. Percents and Percent Change Ratios and Proportional Metsores of Central Tendency and Variability Dan Analysis I" Graphs and Tables. Data Analysis 2: Histograms and Sesto Designing and Interpreting Experiments and Studies, Interlae: Be Nimble ‘Adional Tops in Math ‘Angles, Triangles. and Poon [Right Triangles and Basie Trigonometry. Circles, Radins anda Litle More Trigonomety. ‘Working in Thee Dimensions. Complex Number. Solutions ‘Oficial Test Breskdown, Test Test? Test Tests Tests. Test 6 PSATINNASOT Test 1 137 141 1st 159 160, 170 181 194 20 ol 209 om 232 2s ass 275 288 300 384 355 386 357 388 359 360 361Introduction though Ive got @ perfect sore end work with students on the entirety of the es, | spend most of my SAT-focused energy thinking about the math section. I's the section obout which Ive hod the mott arguments with people n my line of work ond far outside (of it Emotions tend to rum high on both tides, which | understond ompletely becouse my own philosophy onthe tecton hos changed {0 much sce I wos in high school | wos @ math guy In highschool | looked forward to moth class every doy. | loved the ratifoction | got fram constructing an elegent ‘geometrical proot I thrived on the sturdy relibiity of elgebra. | Swan the oward for the best math GPA. | couldn't welt fo get to collage and toke horder, more demanding courses in advonced mathematic. Bot ofcourse ke everyone | still got questions wrong sometines. fd birt incorrely, or forge! fo dstebute @ negative sign, ond fee Iny stomach ink when my teocher handed me beck « 95% when fd Deen sre @ 100% wor coming Despite mountains of evidence indeating that | wos felible ond Tkely to make 0 few mitokes under pressure, | brute-forced the math section on the SAT becouse | knew no other way. i's been 100 Tong for me fe remember ony of the questions nd Tim fee sre | rover knew which ones | got wrong, but | do remember that | wos evestoted when my scorer come beck thet | hed ony scored © 730 in moth. had done beter than tht in ding! FFFFFFFUUUU- uuwuuu. Toking the SAT using only brute force meth i ike @ Litie Leaguer Insstng on ving © wooden bat becovie thet’s what the pros ue, {ven though it pus him at @ huge dlzodvontage since all fhe other igs vse metel bats. When thot Ke! hen complains thot the best kids in Litle League ore doing # wrong, he's besiecly asking that the playing field odutt Yo him becoure he refuses to eclust to the playing fedHere's what | wish someone hed told me when | was in high schoo! tnd one ofthe fist things | al ell my students now the SAT is no like oer math ets Te SAT Ie mony multiple choles, for ene. The math tors youre 20 ured fo pwning in ichool are aimest eerily ‘not multiple choice And then there's the Fact that, onthe SAT, there's nobody locking of your work ond possibly giving you partial erelt Sthen you dant get@ question ell the way right. Not 10 mention that SAT moth sections cover ves! range of content and are writen by People whe erent rooting for you ot ell. Your math teccher in School wants you to do well and probably writes tess thot ore foir bboted on whot har been covered in close. He or she is hoppy when nobody fells @ est. The people who write the SAT jst went you, fond everyone else toking the fst, to lstrbute nicely over e normal Curve. They wont—they need, recily—moa people to be average, tome students tobe inthe very bottom percents, and only © few "Auden nthe top percentiles. The’ the woy the fet ypposed 10 work. IF you want to be one of the students at the top, you need to prepare for this test in @ diferent woy then you prepare for Feguler math texs—even big ones tke midterms ond fils. You eed not ony fo learn the material, but also Yo leor to identity ‘oppernaities fo creamvent long-war solutions with ether deft coleu- lotor sls or non-mathy techniques ike plogging in numbers If you wont to érasticaly improve your score, you're going te hove to deostzelly chenge the way you tke the tes. Im hereto help.How to Use This Book ‘Ym willing to guess that, since you're reading these words right now, you're prety interested in score improvement, What a coincidence! Me to! | spend a lot of time thinking about the best way to help my students improve ‘without wasting tons oftheir ime and without frustrating them more than is necessary, However, a any good tutor or teacher will ell you, big score gains are possible, but they usually ont come easy. A cursory glance atthe practice ques- tions in here— in any book—will not be sufficient fo raise your sore. You're ‘going to have to be thorough. (The fact that youre reeding this introduction bodes ‘well. I wrote this book tobe read coversto-cover, and although I'l outline another ‘way to approach things litle later on, ell think that reading every page and doing every drill is the surest way to improve your score Here are some things that you should have to help you get the most out of this book ‘A“Math Guide Owner” account on PWNTestPrep.com ‘This site membership level is fee for you ifyou purchase this book, All you need. to do is provide proof of purchase to me (eg, forward your Amazon shipping notification email to mike @pumtestprep.com) and I wil provide you with an secess code. Thal get you explanatory videos, extra dis, updates to this book itfwhen new editions are released, and more stuf | havent dreamed up yt. Pencils ‘You should try to solve every single problem in this book before you read its explanation. I'you just read my explanations, youll probably forget what you ‘ead as soon as you tr the page. I want this book to work for you, so want you to write all overt, Practice as youl pay: with a yellow, wooden #2 pencil hat ‘you can erase if you make mistakes. hing calculator {ve been tutoring for long enough o know that some teachers, even in this digital age lll discourage thee students from using calculators in math elas. [under- 8° Guide 3 GODOO OHO matnr How to ise Tis ook stand thee reasons, eventhough I disagree. On the SAT, though, you'e going to bbe at big disadvantage ifyou dont really know how to make your calculator sing, $0 make sure youre becoming well-aeclimated to its ins and outs as youre repping for the big test. ‘As for what ealeulator to get, well, I'm partial to my TI-83, which youl be seeing sercenshots from litered through this book, but whatever you already own should be fine, As long as it doesn't have a QWERTY keyboard or an internet ‘connection and as long as it does beep oF print, your eaeulator should be fine ‘on test day” Your calculator ean probably do ike tn millon things, but I've ‘compiled a shor list of tasks you should know how to perform on your calculator for the SAT Ifyou don't know how to do any ofthese, Google the specific proce- dure for your calculator. > Graph functions. Occasionally youll be able to solve an SAT problem simply by graphing, We will discus these opportunites in some detail in this book, bu just spotting the opporturities won't help if you don' know how to use your ealculator. Once you've graphed, you must also be able to © Find the and y-intereepts ofa function © Find the intersections of two functions. © View a table of values © Adjust window dimensions and sale, ‘> Convert a decimal toa fraction. This isall kinds of useful > Work with exponents and radicals. You should not have to fiddle with your calculator fo figure out how to take the fith root of something on test day, Know how to do so in advance ‘> Use parentheses snot your calculator’ fault if you enter 8" as 8x4 sad of @° (+4). That kind of careless mistake can really spoil an otherwise solid outing on test day ‘> Access other special funetions. Make sure you know how to work with absolute value, trigonometric functions, et. 7 Yo cn view Calpe Bouts cle poi Here hapseolegeteadines colleptoar org Sacaking-e tesla polyOfficial SAT Practice Tests ‘Taking full-length, simulated tests sa necessary element of any good SAT prep plan. The tes itself is harrowing and protracted experience, and ifyou haven't ut yourself trough rigorous simulations a few times before you sit down forthe ‘eal thing you beat areal disadvantage. People pep at diferent speeds, but as a ‘general rule I recommend taking at least four full-length, allin-one-siting prac> tice tests before you sit forthe real thing” Offical practice tests are avery precious commodity if yout taking the new SAT in 2016. There are curently six oficial practice tests available online. Tess 1-4 were released before the frst administration ofthe now test; Tests Sand 6 are sctual test administrations from 2016 (or very close likenesses), More tests wll ‘materialize later, bu that’ litle comfort o you. The Oficial SAT Study Guide. {2016 edition) contains the only the first four official practice tests. The book ble as Fee contains some other practice materials, oo, but those are also av downloads from College Board's site. So its perfectly reasonable if you choose not to buy the book. Lay, College Board has also released one fee PSATINMSOT online, whieh you should download and print whether you buy the book or not, With so few official ests out there, youl want everything you ean get your hands on, even if inthe case ofthe PSAT/NMSQIT, its not gue the Anyway, once you've got your hands onthe practice tests you need, here's how you take one. First, drag your lazy bones out of bed early on a weekend morning. Set your alam go off early enough that youl have time to eat break- fast, tke a shower, and be fll alert by about 830, when you should start testing ‘Your bedroom int the worst plae to practice, but ifpossbl, get yourself to «public place that you ean expect tobe fairly quiet, but that will have some ambient noise public library is perfect Part ofthe SAT experience is the fact that someone next to you might have the sills, o the hiccups, or.worse. A few 7 "Weimporan tne dar atough pst tess ae a important pat of he rep experee, if ou only take pate {ess a doit cs your scores ten iyo mprove mach Arastent of shsophy mig sa, rice ess are ees) bunt sue. +» Fortin al those things gto ppnesrep com wpreoacefe-colegebuardeeaseses!Inet: How to Use Tis Book ‘minor distractions during your practice tess will help you to be better prepared ‘when something noisy, smelly. or otherwise weind happens on test day. Take the whole test in one siting. Yes, even the essay, assuming youl be —T think everything in here is important. However, here's another path you might choose to tke if you're in a hurry—but not lke, a crazy hurr. This plan wil stil take a while. Its Barly a shorter 1, Take Official Test #1. Correct it. 8) Highlight every question you got wrong in the Official Test Break~ down of Test #1 (page 355), and write down the relevant techniques Work through every chapter that you've writen down more than one. «) Do the dri atthe end ofeach chapter. Use the solutions section atthe end ofthe book to understand any mistakes you make. 4) This is important: Go back tothe Official Test you just ook, and redo every question inthe test you got wrong, making efforts to apply the ‘concepts you read about in this book. New techniques won't be easy oF fel natural the first sme, but you want to change your sores, you're going to have wo change your approach. Take Official Test #2, Correct it and repeat steps a through d) above for (Offical Test #2. Make special note of problem types you've been missing ‘over and over again, At this pont, its safe to call those weaknesses, Reread the chapters corresponding to your weaknesses again. 3, Hit Khan Academy. Drill your weaknesses until you run out of questions 4, Take Official Test #5." Correct it and repeat review steps a) through 5. ‘Take Official Test #6. Time itso that you're doing this afew days before (othe day befor) your SAT. You want this o bean accurate prediction ‘of your score on test day, Think of it like your dres rears 6. Getin there and PWN the SAT for real Do it ‘Tipping ee 3 anda because you might wat hem arent prep er iyou decide tok the est again, and becuse Tests Sad 6 ar acl 216 test dmimsratios(r very close acl aminstcions) and theo slightly ‘oe vlibl en Test 1General Test Strategies ‘When baseball was invented, bunting was not part ofthe game. Every hate’s intention was to hit the ball hard every time. Soon, however, it became apparent ‘hat it could sometimes be useful to put the ballin play by simply holding the bat ‘over the plate and iting the ball afew feet And thus, the bunt was born, The rules didn't forbid it, and iterated desirable outcomes, o it became apart of the ame. “Thote ate parallels hereto the SAT. You need to play the game the way is played today, not the way it was intended to be played when it was conceived in 1947, You must use the test’ design o your advantage, whether its designers ‘meant for you todo so or not. Read on fora few SAT: specific strategies that sight help raise your score portant ones Imagine yout given the task of picking as many apples as you can from a partic~ ‘ular apple tre in a limited amount of time. You know tht none of the apples on the tree are any more o ess delicious than any ofthe thers, bu of course the higher up they are, the harder they are to get Are you going to climb ight othe top to get the most difficult apples first? NNotif you want to pick the most apples! I guess i it's important o you to brag to your eiends that you got the highest apple, you might do that. Buti thas what you want to brag about to your friends, maybe its time to look at your life and Took at your choices. In the SAT math section, the questions go roughly inorder from easiest (0 hardest, but each question carries the same point value. There's no bonus for geting the hardest ones right. So if youre rushing through the easy questions 19 get to the hard ones, youre doing it wrong. Youre spending precious time on questions tht are very dificult without giving enough thought to questions that are much easier. I'you prioritized your time differently, you might very well see a higher score. Put another way: if you stop rushing to get othe hardest questions, laboring through them, and often stil getting them wrong, youl probably make OBO OOO SHO math GuideInet. Genel Tes Staeles {ewer erorson the easier questions. Youll make the test easier as you raise your Rushing o get to the hard questions faster is ike climbing tothe top of the twee before you've picked all the easer-to-get apples towards the bottom —the fones you can reach from the ground without climbing at all. Youle risking your entre day's work by doing so. Youl probably get fired from your apple picking job for being so inefficient, How wil you afford your Xbox Live subseription without that job? ‘This isa subde point, but sa huge factor in whether your math score is going to show an impressive improvement, {you really want your score fo go up, prioritize the easy points. Once you're consistently getting all of those—once you never miss anything of easy or medium difficullythen you can start to worry bout the hardest questions. ‘As you know, there are two kinds of SAT math sections: Calculator Permitted, and Calculator Not Permitted, In bth sections, youll find a few eri ‘questions at the end, Generally speaking, you can expect o find easier stl ‘mostly in the frst few multiple choice questions ofeach section and inthe frst ‘couple grid-ins, but youl also find some hard questions mixed in atthe beginning and some easy questions mixed i atthe end, Bottom line: just make sure youre spending the bulk: of your time working on question that you fel you have & ‘good chance of geting right. That's how youll maximize your score Most students I meet could increase ther sores more by getting fewer easy questions wrong than by geting more hard ones right. timing isan issue for ‘you, dont worry i you dont get to the hardest question or two ina section if -youlve made sure you got the easier ones right. ITyou run ut of time, just guess ‘on the ones you haven't answered. Generally speaking, is «good trade-off to suctifce speed for accuracy. Slow down, work carefully, and bask inthe glow of {Your score report when i arrives and proves me right 10 PWN Testnrc: General Ts statis Guessing ‘You may have noticed tat atthe end ofthe last seetion, I told you to gues if you ru out of ime. On the old SAT, that wouldnt have been good advice: there used to bea penalty for wrong answers that would negate the benefit of random tuessing. On the new SAT, shore is no such penal So lt me just make this really easy for you you should never, ever, EVER leave a multiple choice question blank on the new SAT. Ifyoure stumped, gues. IFyoure running out of ime and you have 3 question lef se your ast S seconds to bubble in answers for those 3 let gain, guessing ‘isnt going to improve your score much, but its tila good idea because even questions. You have nothing o lose. (You also have only ‘marginal guins mater on the SAT.) ‘Of course, you hope that you wont need to guess at al on test da: Still, you ‘need to now how you're going to deal with uncertainty on test day; no matter ‘how well you prepa there's always the possibility ofa head-scratcher or two. IP ‘you find yourself guessing often, you'd probably benefit from redoubling your ‘rep efforts. The only way to improve your score more than & minuseule amount isto learn some techniques to help you actually get the questions right without "ncertinty. Wel gt to those soon. Be suspicious of “easy” answers to “hard” questions ‘Since you've been paying such close atention, you know by now tha the di culty of math questions generally increases as a section progresses. The earlier questions are usually easier, and the later questions are usualy harder (with the ‘occasional hard question early and easy question late to keep you on your toes) Dud, right? Ive already beaten you over the head with this and also, if you've ‘ever taken an SAT or PSAT/NMSOT, it’ likely that you noticed it youself, But hhave you thought aboot what ‘This easyto-hard section structure has two important implications: "> Easy questions are more important than the hard ones for your score (which means for you, intrepid test taker? ve just talked about,nwt: General est strates ‘> You shouldbe leery of easy" answers to “hard” questions (which we're about to talk abou) ‘When you're faced with a question that’s supposed tobe more difficult, you should resis the urge to jump on an answer choice that seems immediately ‘obvious. I's probably best ro illustrate this with an example. Say youre erising ‘through the Calculator section and at question #19, you see the following. ears ‘Stephen wins the lottery and decides to donate 30% of his winnings to charity. ‘Then he decides o give 20% of what he has let to his mother. What pereent of | his winnings does Stephen have left for himself? A) om% By 56% ©) 54% D) 50% ‘This question isnt too tough and you might not need my help to solve it, but before we get tothe solution I want to ask you something: what choice should you ‘not even consider? Well if this question was just asking you to start with 100%, and subtract 30% and 20% and end up at 50%, it wouldn't bea #19. If be a #1 So there's no lippin’ way its D. Since we know where we are in the test, we know ‘there must be something else going on here. And sure enough, we se that Stephen gives 20% of what he ha lef afer he's already donated 30% to charity | want tobe clear: although i's sometimes presented as such, suspi- ious of answers that seem foo easy is nota technique for answering a question correclly, and anyone who tells you otherwise hasnt spent enough time earning about the SAT, Butt is helpful to remember that, once you're about halfway ‘through a math section, the questions are supposed to require some thought, so ‘yu should fll for answers that seem to require no thought at all 2 PWN Test Prop.nent. Sonar Test saci Put another way: hiss nota way 10 get questions right This I a way nov 10 get questions wrong. ‘To get it right, as we'll often do with percent questions, we're going to plugin (Well talk much more about this rechnigue starting on page 23). ay Stephen won $100, He gives 30% ofthat ($30) to charity. Now he's got, $70 le, 20% of which he gives to his poor old mothe. 20% of 70 i 14 30 he ives his mom $14. $70 ~$14 = $56, so he's got $56 left for himself: Because he stared with $100, that’s 56% of his original winnings. The answer i B. ‘Actually read the question ilbe honest | hate that Ym actually devoting pages of tis guide to reminding ‘you to read each question very carefully, ut am because I've worked with enough kids to know that errors due to misreading (and mishubbling) are amaz- ingly, unspeakably common, Rest assured th by atest ker answer choee, Soifyou don't read the question carefully the fist time, youl fee iPtheres a way a question could possibly be misinterpreted the SAT waiters have antcfpated that eror and made it an incorest ‘warm and fuzzy about your incorrect answer. You might catch your mistake ifyou Finish erly and have ime to review your answers, but there's also 8 pretty good cance your warm-and-fuzzy will carry all the way through until you get your score report back and se that you missed 6 and you're al ike WTFEFFFF, ‘The SAT has, historically, een known to do things like: ‘> Give all the question information infect and ask for an answer in inches. OF course, make the same answer in feet an incorect choice, > Ask testers 1a solve for x, which is 49 (a perfect square—those monsters). Make 7 an incorrect answer choice to give the warm-and-fuzzy to everyone ‘who aulomatially solved for x ike they do every other day ofthe year. + "Wists gs a cnt. gave tits om chaps, probaly ip my hou efor rsh writing it ‘ple ik sour bubbling ean el you ho man) verymart ise worked wih Who hav los poms babing ‘rrr on he SA ts ublevble me And they aay just ve oR “Oop, I misuse, LOL” "Oops dee tn shoe ayo LOL Oop threw my ater ane! LOLLERCOASTERI! one ©BO GOO OO Math Guide BInco ener et states ‘> Write a question about John and Susie buying iguana teats or something. ‘Aak how many Susie bought, Make the number John bought a choice too. So yeah, Just ike the aforementioned suspicion of “easy” answers to “hard questions, this st ealy a strategy so muchas it me imploring you to actually ‘put your eyes on the paper and read the question carefully because the SAT has & Tong history of humbling thse who dont. TaneRaRtoeCHMtBE be The perimeter ofan equilateral triangle with sides of length sis p. What isthe perimeter ofa square with sides of length 3s, in terms of p? AP B) 129 0” D) 3p Recognize that on a question lik this, there's almost always going to be a choive—and oflen more than one—meant to seem attractive to you when youte rushed and stressed on test day (On this question, you could breeze through the question too quickly, miss the ‘act that youre asked about the perimeter of a square ater you're given informa ‘ion about an equilateral triangle and gravitate towards 3p. D isa clasic misread ‘The other incorrect answers ate also designed to look good to someone who's helpful mental exercise o ny to figure out how the wrong answers are selected because it gives completely panicked (" beeause you know, squares). It’s ctu you insight into the way the test is writen. Enough insight ik that, and you'll be ‘wel on your way to earning your SAT black belt PWN Test Prepnico General Tes states ‘The solution, again, is found most easily by plugging in, (Are you recog: ning a theme? I push plugging in hard.) eral tiangle with sides of length 2 has a perimeter of 6, the square with sides of ength 3s (AKA 6) has a perimeter of 24; that's the number we're looking for inthe answer choices. What's 24 in Say s=2,An equ s0 p= 6. Since 30> terms ofp when p= 6? 4p, of course! The corect answer is C. Anyway, read the question carefilly, Always. You may be laughing now. You ‘wont be when you lose precious points because of earcless errors. ®GO GOS OOO math Guide 1sMiscellaneous Things You Must Know ‘There are some things you need to know forthe SAT that dont warrant entire hapers being dedicated to them—things like definitions of terms and potent but almost never useful techniques. A responsible and thorough SAT prep book like the one you hold in your hands must mention these things, though, som putting ‘them here, Please review this chapter carefully, even ifthe ist ew things you ‘ead are familiar If youre shaky on any’of hese things, the SAT will exploit that ‘weakness. And we don't want that, No, we dont want that at al, ‘Moke sure you know what's going on with ‘> Integers. An intezer sa whole number, not a fraction, Integers can be positive, negative, or zero, The following are all integers: -5, 31,100, 0. The following ae nr integers: 05, ~3 ‘> Even and odd. This was featured much mote heavily on the od SAT, but You should sill know i. Be abe to predict what will happen when you perform basic arithmetic operations on generic even or odd numbers. © Odd «Odd = Od Odd « Even = Even Even » Even = Even Odd = Odd (Odd + Odd = Even Even # Even = Even baeaaa Zero is even > Positive and negative. Know these cold, Negative » Negative = Positive Negative « Positive = Negative & Zero is neither postive nor negative. ‘> Multiples and factors of integers. The postive factors of ® are 1,2 4, and 8 Positive multiples of 8 are 8, 16,24, 32, 40, ee ‘> Prime numbers. A prime number is a postive integer greater than | that has no positive divisors ater than itself and 1. You should have the frst.‘neict: sce#ancous ngs ou Mt Kan {ew memorized. Here are all he prime numbers les than 100 (you might want to memorize the bold ones): 2,3, $7, M, 13, 17,19, 23,28, 31,37, 41, 43,47, 53, $9, 61, 67, 71, 13, 79, 83,89, 97 © isnot a prime number ‘© The only even prime number is 2. ‘> Fractions Personally I convert them fo decimals whenever possible, but ‘sometimes you can't escape working wit factions on the SAT. The top ‘number infraction is called the numerator. The botiom number is called the denominator Given a positive numerator and denominator (a> O and (b> 0), the following poins are tue. Remainders. Occasionally, youl be asked about remainders onthe SAT. ts probably been a while since you dealt with remainders, so here are ‘wo shortcuts: "© Ifasked fora remainder, remove the decimal rom the result you get ‘when you divide, and multiply itby your original divisor. That's your reminder, Doing this on your ealeulator will ook something ike this ‘The remainder, when 13 is divided by Ss 3. You could also, of course, just do long division © fyoute given a specific remainder and a specifi divisor, and you need to find a number that, divided by the divisor, produces te remainder, simply add the remainder othe divisor (ora multiple ofthe divisor) ‘Sorry, that was the most confusing sentence ever Here's an example: if ‘GO OOO GHO math Guide 7Imminent Ms Koo yu need a number that gives you a remainder of S when divided by 8 8 +513 will work just fine: 13 + 8= 1 R S.In fact, S greater than any ‘multiple of 8 will work: Bk-+5, where kis a positive imeper and ‘therefore 8k sa positive multiple of, will always have a remainder of S when divided by 8 ‘ Digit places. Inthe number 5.764.312, 4s the units (ones) dit, 6 is the ‘ens digit, is the hundreds digit, and is the thousands digit. The Inequatties. We use the < symbol for fess than andthe < symbol for fess ‘than or equal to. Likewise, > means greater than and > means greater ‘than oF equal to. Remember, least just means farthest tothe eft om a ‘number line, and greatest means farthest tothe right. Ona number line, ‘we represent > and < with open cree (like this: 0) and > and Other assorted symbols, There aren't many symbols you need to recognize, but you should know that © Lmeans perpendicular. 1B CD means the segment between points A and B forms aright angle with the segment between points C and D. PWN Test PrepInet tscelancus ngs You Must Know © || means parallel EF || GH means segments EF and GH will never touch, never ever ever, no matter how far they're extended. There is therefore no angle between them. © #means nor equal t.23, ‘> Variables and constants. A variable is placeholder that can have more ‘han one value. In the liney~ 3x, yandx are both variables and there are ‘an infinite umber of solutions othe equation. A constant must remain exactly that—constant, It ean only ever be one thing. In questions that involve both constants and variables, the SAT will ll you exactly what's ‘what. When the SAT says an equation is “tue forall values of x" that ‘means x isa variable, ‘© Its important to know the difference between variables and constants in polynomials inthe equation y~ ax" + Bx +c, and yare variables and a, 3, and ¢ ate constants > Cartesian graphs. | assume you already understand the basi layout ofthe Cartesian coordinate plane (also known a the xy-plane). Spevificaly, 1 expect that you already know how to find a point given an ordered pair (3,4), You should also know the following: © Intercepts. A graph’s-Sercep isthe point which it erosses the ‘yas, Since i's understood thatthe x-coordinate is always 2t0 tthe _intercept, often the y-itercep is piven as only the y-coordinate. For example, when a graph has ay-intercept ofS, that means the praph crosses the y-axis at (0, 5). OF course, the same is true for x-Itercepts: «8 graph with an x-intereept of 3 crosses the x-axis at (3,0). © Domain, The domsin of a function i all he values of x for which the funeton is defined, © Range, The range ofa function isthe set ofall p-values that @ function hits at some point in ts domainInes: scans Things ou Ms Kao © Increasing and decreasing, When a graph is moving upasit gees lft tight, we ay its increasing. When a graphs moving down asi goes eft to Fight, we say ifs decreasing Because the same graph can be increasing and decreasing depending on what part youre ooking at, we usually say that ‘raph is increasing or decreasing over a certain interval. For example, the graph above is increasing until x=-2, then decreasing from x =-2 toxr=25, then increasing again ftom x= 2.5 on, Note the relationship between the concept of increasing and decreasing graphs and the concept of slope: a line with a positive slope is always increasing, and line witha negative slope is always decreasing. © Vertical Asymptotes. & graph has a vertical asymptote when, in its ‘most simplified form, a certain value of will create a ze inthe funetion’s denominator For example, y=4*24*2 wi have a vertical asymptote atx 5 because when x= 5, the denominator is 0 ‘© Horizontal Asymptotes. A graph has a horizontal asymptote when, in its mos simplified form, ites a numerstor and a denominator with the same degree (AKA the same highest power of the variable) For example, y= 22410 i ave a horizontal asymptote because FH6R+S the highest power of 82 on both the top and the botom ofthe fse~ tion. To calculate where the asymptote will be, divide the leading cofficient of the numerator by the leading coefficient ofthe denominator. In the example, the leading cofclent ofthe mmertar is 3 and the leading coeicient ofthe denominator is 1. 73,0 the horizontal asymptote ofthe function will be aty=3.neu: Nicene Thing ou Must Know © Even functions. Ifa function is symmetrical about the y-axis, itis an even fetion. Another way to say the same thing: when a funetion fis even, fie) =f) forall values of inthe domain off Examples of even functions include fs) oi 58° Chock out this sweet symmety laze Ineo © Odd functions If function is symmetrical about the origin, then tis «an odd function. Another way to say the same thing: when a function f is odd, f- 0d functions include i) = and fi) =x" +3! — 2, Here's what (forall values of xin the domain off Examples of those bad boys look like TTATechniques ‘2 me jst say this right up front: yes every SAT problem can be solved with tome combination ‘oF algabro, geometry, ond reasoring—mosly lgebvo. You'l never encounter & question that cont be solved witout employing some orcone test prep trickery. ‘Any fleshungry zombie can be killed with one's bore hond, 19, ‘but is stl probably best, when preporing for a zombie apace: lypse, to learn ©. few more expedient tacics for zombie extermination. | hope you see where Im going wih this becouse | ‘Hink Tm doing on owezome job crafting on argument for leering seme meth-evoident techniquer-—even if youre realy good at ond really enjoy math. The following teciniques won't come eat right oway if this isthe fist tne yeu're seeing them, but moke no mistake: you procice pigging in and backolving unl theyre second notre, then youl be ine much berer postin to mprove your math score than you's be inf you st eeled yourself en purely mathematical content el doy. PWN Te PrepPlugging in When that he Sis ike her mathe, i is one ofthe primary reasons. On the SAT, its offen completely unnecessary to do the math that’s been so carefully laid out before you. Alot of the time, and on alot of otherwise ‘onerous problems, all you need to dois make up numbers. Sounds crazy, right? Is not. It would be erazy to just make up numbers on Just about any other number-diven task—for instance, it would be a prety bad idea just to make up numbers on your taxes but youl be dumbstruck by how ‘often doing so works in your favor on the SAT: Ofcourse, youll have to practice plugging in fir amount before it becomes second nature. That way, when aa ‘opportunity to doit on the rel test pops up, you don’ panic and blow it. This kind of thing is precisely why you and I have come together. ‘The best way to teach you how to plug ins just to show you how it works, so lot’ get right into an example thats begging to be solved by plugging in rath 0 ealeatater Ifa+b=e, which ofthe following is equal toa +5? A) c+ 2ab Be © e-ab D) = 2ab Now, maybe you see an algebraic solution here and maybe you don’, For out purposes right t this moment, it doest mater. We're going to solve this one by plugging in so tht we can do arithmetic, not algebra Start by assigning values to ‘and b, Tike to keep my numbers small, and its my book, so lets say a= 2 and 'b~3. Ofcourse, since the question tes us that cis the sum of @ and b, we cant (QOO ODO GOO math Guide 3‘hn Psinaln 24 Just make up anything I want for e. When we have an equation, we can plg in values for Both sides: we have to choose one side on which to plug in, and then see what effects our choices have onthe other side. Once Ive chosen a b= 3, now Ihave to say that e= 5: arbre ‘Next, we need to figure out what a + Bis deeates 3 From here, all we need to do is plug our values fora, 5, and cinto each answer choice to see which one gives us 13! Aje+2ab=54+20)3)=5+12=17 x (oobi. Bycias=25 x (evenbdigger..) C8 -ab=S°—0Y3)=25-6=19 x (warmer) D)c'~2ab = 5'-2(2))= 25-12-13 ¥ (est) ‘Sure enough, only one answer choice works, and we dda need todo any algebra fo figure out which one, Coo, right? Note that if we'd used different numbers fora and b, we sill would have {gotten the same answer. That's the beautiful hing about plugging in! Try i you self what happens when a= 11 and 6= 19? ip alent ore re ‘Same asic ides here, ony this ime it grid-in, so we know right off the ‘bat that were not going to have answer choices to check against. Does that make you nervous? It shouldnt! This question is begging fora plugin.Iecriues.euna io Lets make og ives as easy as possible and say m=? and n= 3. Obviously, md m in that case “2=3 . What's $+ 5: ‘Tha Sill works! Lets do one more example together. Tis one's litle tougher: i might not ‘be obvious right away that you can plugin IPs an imoge const gett 1, which of flowing vas of sae henegaly +124 2 wes De Os D) 34-2 (OK. Forget fora minute that this ean be solved with algebra and think about how to solve it by plugging in. Remember, if you dont practice plugging in on problems you know how todo otherwise, you won't be able to plug in well when yu come toa problem you donit know how to solve otherwise! DD OHO GOO math ouiTheis. Pinan ‘We know sis positive integer greater than 1, so let’ say is 2 1 2, then ‘we can do a litle manipulation to see that x has tobe grater than or equal to 3 Sete Eat xe3 ‘Again, note that we doa’ just make up a number for! Once we've chosen a value fork, we've constrained the universe of possible values of x So, which answer choice, given our plugged in value of number greater than or equal 3 for? AR-3=2-32-1 x (Coolow..) B)k=2 x (oope..) O3k-4=6-4=2 x de, naw.) D)3k-2=6-2, ¥ oe) Rock. On, Note once again that if we had picked different number fork, we still would have been OK. Try running through this with k= 10 to see for your- When to plug in > Whea you sce variables inthe question and the answer choices you might ‘want to ty plugging in > On pereent questions, youl probably benefit from plugging in (and using 100 as your starting value), ‘> In general, if you're plugging in ona geometry question, just make sure ‘hata the angles in your triangles and straight ines add upto 180°. On triangle questions where no angles are given, you might want to ty plugging in 60 forall angles. “> Anytime youre stuck because you don't know something that you think it ‘would be helpful to know, making i wp! The worst that can happen is youre no biter off than beforeOOO OOO OHO math Gui Tics 2unnein Plug in dos and don'ts > Asa.gencral rule, don’rplug in 0, When you multiply things by 0, you always. 120, and when you add 0 to anythin, it stays the same, I iast you see why this would be bad: too many answer choices will work ‘> Similarly, don’ plug in 1, since when you multiply things by 1, they dont change, Again, tis will often make more than one choice seem correct, ‘> Don’t plugin random numbers on both sides of an equal sign—equal signs ‘must remain true! Remember back to Example 1: once we plugged in for a and b, we only had one choice fr eo keep the equal sign toc. > Do ty to keep your numbers small, Dont plug in 245 when 2 will do. ‘> Do think fora minute before picking your numbers. Will the numbers you're choosing result in messy fractions or negative numbers? We plug into make ‘ur lives easier, so try to avoid these senarios! With itl practice, picking 00d numbers wil become second nature ‘> Do check every single answer choice when you plug in on a multiple choice question because there's always a small chance that more than one answer will work I that happens, don't pale. just try new numbers. You can realy mitigate this sk by adhering to the frst two rules above—dont plug indortPractice questians Plugging in Raember Pog inane SATs Cong on your tx ba Note: All of these problems can be solved without lugging in, of course, but you'll have plenty of time to practice algebraic solutions later. You're ‘hereto practice plugging in. Don't be intractable in your methods. Flexibility and nimbleness beget Tivo calculator Ifr+9is4 more than s then r~ 11 is how such less than 5? aye an ©) 16 D) 20 Ho calculator Ifx y, which ofthe following rust be tue? Ayr0 ©) >» Dry Bo calculeor LE Brunhilde went to the casino and lost 40% ‘of her money playing Pai Gow poker before x> 0 then whats the 18> 4, which ofthe following i uivalent sitference between andi terms of y? ay By ©.0-) by a-» » i catculator | Wi calculator Ina cena office, there are ech, desks, ade employees. Five desks are not occupied, ‘Whats the sum ofthe measures of the and al oter desks are occupied by exactly rarked angles inthe Figur above? tne employee. ll but two othe employees toe have to chairs at her desks, and all the . cer dest, wheter they re occupied Or ot, B) 9007 have one cai Ife > 2, then which ofthe © no following expressions sequal te ? by sar A) a-s)re B) 20-0) ©) 2-2) D)2e+3 EW catclator | 2e-+ 3y= 1, whats the value of #8"? a2" 2" ° po OGOGHO OOH marh GvAnswers nd examples from the Oficial Test: Plugging in epeeo Solutions on page 301 ‘You can plugin to solve the following questions on Official Test Test Section Questions '3:No calelator 8, 13, 14 4:Caleuator 20,31 3:Nocalculator 4,15 IL 2 4eCaleulitor— 1,23,25 5 Nocaleulstor 11 4eCaleultor 13,14 2:Nocaeulaor 5,6, 12 ‘ 4:Caleulator 26,29 3: No aeulator (13 ‘ 4:Caleulator = 21 2:Nocaleulator 7,12 ° 4:Caleulator 28 psaramsor 2Noslelor 1,11 4:Caleulator 18 Obvious ‘whether you plug in or not when a question allows is upto you, but this table should show clearly that youl have the option multiple times per test. 30Backsolving its important to be ever-conizant ofthe fc that on this multiple choice test, one and only one the four answers as oe ht ts somtimes possible to exploit his spect ofthe SATs design to answer a question comet by stating wih the answer choices and working backwards Many in th prep word cl this bachsolving, nd its so power on the SAT because the SAT general puts rumericol answer ches in orders i easy tackle ficiently. Othe new SAT, just as onthe od this san indispensable tecnigu As wed n he pig in caper, ls gin wih ily simple example. rath Shim keps bth dogs and asa pets she has 7 pts ino A dog eats 4 pounds ‘of food por day, and aca eats 1 pound of food per day. 1 Shira uses 16 pounds of| food per day to feed herpes, how many dops does she have? a2 By 3 o4 Ds late Alright, So this problem is tha had, and T'm sure you could solve it with algebra, but hold of on that for now: I want talk about backsolving, and Ifyou ‘cant backsolve on an easy question, you're not going to he able to use this tech- nique when its really useful ona hard question. Instead of tying t write csquations, then, e's use the fat that one ofthe four answers has tobe right to our vantage. Ife start with answer C, well have to try at most 2 answers, since © is one ofthe middle answers and if it's no ight well know right away whether \we need to go higher or lower, Either Cis to lows, which would mean Dis right, ‘or Cis 100 high and we need to try A or B to see which i ight QOH OOO OOO meth Guide 31ncn Backsoing Note that, since we know the total numberof pets, we also know how many ats Shira would have in each answer choice. For example, if she has 4 dogs like it says in choice C, then she has 3 cats to make 7 total pets. We ean represent this information ina handy table Answer ae ows ows c 4 3 But wait. We also know how much food each kind of pet eats, Let's throw ‘at into the table, too! Each dog eats 4 pounds pe day, and each cat ets 1 Ansmerinice | Dogs | Dapfoot | Cas | Catbod | Toland doen) coined) hep) © 4 6) 3. 3 19 Hopefully what you're seeing there is that were using too much food. The «question said we're supposed to use 16 pounds of food per day, but if cove © ‘were right, we'd be using 19 pounds. So choice Cis wrong, and we've gota prety clear direction to move in: We need to use less food or Shira's 7 pets, so we need fewer dogs (who eat a lt of food) and more cats (who eat less Food), So let's ry choice B: Shone bebo spe) _cbspera Sp Boo3 nm o4 4 16 ‘And there you have it. When there are 3 dogs and 4 cas, Shira uses 16, pounds of food per day, just ike the question sid. So B isthe correct answer. The beauty ofthis technique i that, while it might tke abit of practice to internalize, it eventually foe very intuitive. You sta with one ofthe two mide choi 2 and ifthe one you chose doesnt work, the question pushes you in the right direction. Again, this was a fily easy one, and you might not have had any trouble writing equations to solve i, but it’ importan that you stat to Took at the SAT differently if you want o change your score, Adding a technique like back-‘io Bcksating solve to your bag of tricks will make you a more formidable test taker, whether you use tall the time orn Lets do one more together, shall we? What tht? You wan harder one? | suppose I can make that happen Beart ater Rex isa camivorous dinosaur who lives on an sland that is als inhabited by people. He eats one fourth ofthe people on his sland on Monday, 13 of them on ‘Tuesday, and half as many as he ate on Monday om Wesinesday. If there are 22 people left on the island on Thursday, and nobody came tothe island or left in 8 ‘way other than being eaten in that time period, how many people were on the island before Rex's rampage? A) 56 B) 64 oO 68 D) 4 [AS [di forthe last question, fm going to use a tale to ep tack of what's ‘going on here, When you get comfortable backsolving you might decide you don't need to use a table, but doing so has always been useful to me” Your ell. You just need to pick an answer choice to start with—1 usually go with C—and follow the instructions in the question to see whether everything i internally consistent Nyhan a ape et Tables sp me key hing nnzed, so ean make sens fy work when 0 beck 1 heck GOO GOO OOO marh Guietre | papiten As the table above shows, if is true and 68 people were on the island before ‘the eamage, then 17 were eaten Monda 13 people were eaten Tuesday. Finally, half the numberof people who were eaten Monday were eaten Wednesday, which means on Wednesday Rex only ate 8.5 people, We know C is right i it’s going to Jeave us with a factional person, but more importantly, we know that (68-17-13 8.5 = 29.5, which means the numberof people lef according to C is too big! Remember, we're trying to end up with 22 people left on the island, fewer than 68 people mast have started on the island Lets ty B insted ca] ASE, | "SE | hate | NET pay emcee | cman | Tan” | Chae | Tanty * Mon) » | # | 6 | ts 7 ‘As you can see, 64 doesnt work either, but t got us closer. At this point, _wote prety confident A js our answer, butt also should take ws very much longer to confirm retcon | Pantene | repecue | tect ners] seetieat, | "Many" | Mister | Weta a ae" | chen | Sar | fame | Rat | so if oF “ ce 4 | a3 2‘se tacking Alright, Nice, Weve successfully summarized a gruesome seen" with a neat and tidy able. High five! When to try backsolving > Ifthe answer choices are numbers (in numerical order—they aways wil be), there's a decent chance acksolving will work ‘> Ifthe questions a word problem, your chances get even better ‘> Even if meth of these conditions i met, you sill ight beable to backsove. Always be on te lookout for chances to work backwards from the answers! Things to keep in mind while backsolving You're almost always going to want to star with Bor C, but ifa question aks fora least possible value, tart with Aor D, whichever i leat, Same goes, obviously, for questions that ask fr greatest possible vale. > Sometimes it wont be obvious to you which direction to move in ifthe frst choice you try doesn't work. If ths happens, dont freak ou, just pick a direction and go, Remember, backsolving is supposed to save you time, so dont spend al Practice, of course, will make all this easier, and reveal subtle nuances tothe technique that might not he obvious right away. As with any new technique, youll want to make sure backsolving is second nature for you before you sit down forthe real test So practice ton hard questions now, and reap the benefits con test day, Ths pati cbviows without me saying It, bt yl never a queton so macabe ca he SAT. Tn jus yng © ep you awake), GOO GOH OOH math Guidi 35Practice questions: Backsolving No more cnosaurs eating cisren (protaby Note: As was true inthe plug in dil all ofthese problems have non-backsole solution, bul you should ress the urge to fll back on you alge- bra sil. The same old methods you've already ‘bem using will us get you the same old seore you've already been getting. Use this drill 0 Dractice backsolving Wo calculator Rajesh sells only hats and scarves at is store, {for which he charges $13 and $7, respectively. ‘On Monday, he sold 15 items and made S123, How many has did Rajesh sell on Monday? a3 Bs os D6 Hi vo calculator From where he lives, it costs Jared $4 more fora round-trip train ticket to Chaska than it oes for one to Waconia, Last month, Jared took round-rips to Chaska T times and to ‘Waconia 8 times. fhe spent arta of $103 ‘on train tickets, how much does Jared spend ‘on one rounds ticket to Waconia? aysiz B) S10 ost D) ss 36 EB No catclaor " @+aN1-9= 12-61 Inthe equation isa real number constant and 1. What is? aye B)3 2 D3 BIN caleulstor ul srt 2y=15 Sr-y=I2 Which of the following ordered pairs, ») satisfies the system of equations above? 46.3) 8) 3) 048) D609) PWN Test PrepPractice questions: Backsolving No more dinosaurs eating ciren (robb)! EEE calculatot | ian hc ote twig umber ton ihc egy ae os »3 o1 bo Gcatculator | | The audience ofa reality TV show cast a total of 34 million votes, and each vote went to either Brian or Susan, IF Susan received 534,000 more votes than Brian, what percent of the votes were cas for Brian? A) 49% By 49% © 493% D) 49.9% GBOGOO GHG mMearh Guidi Ell calculator Marisol has two different methods of commuting to and from work: she ether takes the subway which costs $2.75 per one-way trip, or she takes aca service, which costs $18.50 per one-way trp. Last week, she worked 5 days, commuting to ad from work tach day. IFhe otal commuting cost forthe ‘week was $74.78, how many times did she take the car service? 2 B)3 o4 D6 37Practice questions: Backsolving No mare dinosaurs eating children (probably)! EW Calculator 1" (n}=8100{ 2 vi so{2) numberof yeas ago, Andy purchased $8,100 worth of stock in PGHH Corporation, The value, in dollars, of his stock n year after purchase is given by'the function J above. If the stock is worth $11,000 now, roughly how ‘many years ago did Andy purchase his stock? A) Five B) Four ©) Three D) Two Wi calculator A B ‘The two triangles inthe figure above, labeled and B, each have te same area. The base of twiangleB isp percent longer than the base of triangle A, andthe eight of wiangle Bis percent fess than the height of triangle A If P—r= 5, which of the following could be the value ofp? AIS Bis OB D) 25 38 Wi Catculator ul Inthe x» plane line containing the points (aa) and (10,40) passes through the origin Which of the following could be the value of ays B)2 o3 D4 PWN Test PrepAnswers: toa 20D 3B aoa sD ‘Angers and examples from the Oficial Tests Backsolving Solutions on page 303 sooen You cat hacksolve the following Oficial Test questions, “Test | 1 PSATINMSQT Section 3: No calculator 4: Caleulator 3: No caleulator 4 Caleulator 3: No caleulator 4 Caleuator 3: Nocaleulaor 4:Caleulator 3: No calculator 4: Caleulator 3: No calculator 4: Caleulator 3: No calculator 4: Caleulator Questions ° 8, 10,11, 245,68 38,29 B 16,22, 24, 26,27 913 16 35 6,28 413 410 5 9,25, 26 ‘Aeain, what this should show you is that you will have opportunities to backsolve ‘on your test, fs upto you whether you want to take those opportunities, but I ‘ink it would be prudent of you to be on the lookout 39Interlude: Look for Trends 'm constomty reminding students to look for tends on the SAT becouse the key to tronscendent scores Is @ deep understonding of the woy the tet work If you wont 1 be @ truly dro Yet faker, you're going fo have to devote yourelf to toking every test you {ake ceive. You should be looking for tends in the kinds of iistokes you're moking, ond you should aso be making mental (or heck, physical notes of every question you see that srkes YoU at Something new or nove. Do you play video gomei? How about poker? Do you ever go ‘ouside ond play besebell When I wes your ge Te domination in any game comes enly after you hove internl- laed the systems io which the game i ployed. When you stort ploying a new first person shooter, even if you'e good et FPS {games in general, you have to spend time geting shot Inthe beck right after you spevn until you've realy Tecrmed the maps, You hove to matter the trojectories of projectiles thot dont gon @ straight line (grencde, etc). You must lear the timing ofthe sniper fill. Yu have to leorn the game's physics inside ond out, nd then you need 10 stort recognizing the common behovor: of other layers For example, you might notice thot most guys un right for the rocket louncher when they spown enywhere neor it. Con you vie that knowledge to your edvantoge? Poker is sinilor Decent poker players knew how te bet gen the hond they have because they know something about probability. Good poker players know whet the opponents have beved an how their opponents bet. When © good poker player sls down at @ new teble, she spends tie leering about her opponents. Who kes Yo blu Who plays fost, ond who plays slow? What ore these player ell PWN Test PrepGOO OGO GAG Math Guide For one more example, consider besebel, Profesional besebell ployers derit foce pitcher they've never seen before without Fecding © Scouring report to try 10 learn what pitches theyre ely to see In which shustions. Ever ty to hte cutve bell before is telly hord to. dol But you know whot mokes to litle ecser? Knowing @ curve bol ie coming. Pacers do the some thing wih boaters. They know who not 19 pich ise ond low, for exemple, ‘ond who con't ley off the ser inthe di. {ve compiled ths book to help you identify the common trends on ‘he SAT, but do's st beck ond cliow me todo all the work. AS {ou work through ths bock and the Offic Tess, be onthe lockout {or familior thames. When you teke ownership ‘of these observa- tions, when you tect the entire SAT like © gome of you ve. them, ‘when you start o feel ike you know what the SAT is going to throw Your way before you even open the fest bookie, thas when you're Feedy 1 PWNHeart of Algebra The new SAT ploces a heary emphoss on the “Heort of Algebra,” whith s bizarre and tortured euphemism for, bes- 0, what isthe value fx? a2 B)3 o4 Ds First ofall, yes. Total backsolve.* You might se this and choose to back solve instantly on the real test, and you'd get the right answer, However, because were talking abou algebraic manipulation, let manipaate Tories fr ovaing on evry tp inthis hpter—Tll move more quickly ater, but sight now we ely wan tome Sire th sf eli nw for ore pops hei alge las was Teg te ago ad est tess ough baw moc ose gong toned tobe sora with hs by et. Ming bea he okou for oppor tpg horbackslse dat way yu be ready by test yt GOO OOO OHO math Guhota lta Manaulaton Fi subtite infork 347 mT 0 I 3 2 5 2 [Now the important part. When you have x (or whatever you want to sve {rina denominator, then you're going to have to mukipy by that denominator to be able to manipulate it rely. In this ease, were going to multiply both sides ofthe equation by x+1 The teae hm ee nda it ee nig na ih ese plaeo ea vi Leon nrg ious ofthat i fn Sores mpl ies by 2 alti ania in $d sen asta as siaya)$ien) 20=5(x+1) wnesees ‘Now we're home fc, right? Subtract S from each side, then divide by 5 and youive pot: 20-S=5rt5-5 1 1 s No sweat—the answer is B. Again, I know you might be thinking, yeah Mike, J ge it: I've been solving for for years. Take me tothe questions about dividing polynomials! Well, you ‘an jump to those yourself, I suppose (page 143, but lt me caution you: Ihave 32 PWN Test Preptet oir: la Marinltion ‘worked with many bright students over the years, and I've leamed never tobe surprise! when someone who has a 98 average in calculus gets turned around solving forx when it's in denominator. The SAT tests you on stuff you haven't really hid to practice in years take a litle time to shake the rust off Practice solving thes five equations for x then (finally) well move on, (Answers are atthe bottom of te page.) Se ul 2 Hers 6 _ 19 Fea) 7 [Now lets move on to something abit trickier, hall we? bib aie eareatee Ms, Blackburn owns a constrction business, She uses the equation above to ‘aleulate the profit, she makes ona projec. Her revenues area flat fee, x, plus the produet of an hourly rate per worker, and the numberof workers on the project, From that she subtracts the product of mand the average hourly wage her workers earn w, and all ther costs (raw materials, tools, insurance, fuel, te.) she incurs to complete the project, which she lumps together a c, What i in terms of Px, 7, wand e? 9 Sete m pee ° D)“Tal plugin question, right? Make up numbers for x, m, adc, a put them into the equation to get P. Then put ll those into each answer choice to see ‘which equals n! [hope youl try that on your own, forthe practice, but again, in the manipulation chapter, tm going to do manipulation. Fis, let's get eveything that doesn't have an in it on one side ofthe equation: Poxte=m-—wn [Now we sill havea problem: we have more than one writen there! We ‘need to factor» out of each term onthe right hand side: Poxtennr—) ‘Once we've done that, we can divide by r—w and be done with thist So the answer is €. ial thoughts Here's a shor list of things you should be very careful o do if you want to be unstoppable on basic algebraie manipulation questions. ‘> Be careful with your signs, Pethaps the most common kind of mistake on these questions isthe flipped negative ‘> Think before you leap. Before you goon autopilot, make sure you know what you'e trying to accomplish. © Know what the question wants you to solve fr. Make sure that every step you take actually gets you closer to tht goal ‘> Remember that anything you do to one side of an equation must also be done to the other side,| Practice questions: Algebraic Manipulation Evers ves hen ee malt, No calculator nm penta ‘The pressure ofa gas ina conn depends ons empties Ane hie es he Tonal veo caate stale peur, pound per ore chp. gen he ‘cpt Cates doges tere toulec posure int toatich ee vigil lac to rrent ht a coined 70° Faeaet Which ae allowing ‘penton cold bcd dec the ‘Phoxinatc empete ouie ven aie’ ‘Peale on ahaa pres? | a) tp toe+70 | By 10» toe 70 | 0 107+ 14-70 BBo cated | D) P+ 1te-70 (Sx +1) Gx +2) +3 +5) | Itte expec above rewiten nthe | fhemart h when recent, ‘ch ot fotoing tment se? yard EEENo calculator, Gridsin By a wy: ‘E+ what is the value of x GuidePractice questions: Algebraic Manipulation Everyone ves wen youre manipulative [i calculate BB calculator Sie +36 P34, -tar +b +6 = 1a, by and eae constants, which of the following isthe sum ofthe two expressions ‘fm and m are both greater than zero, then according tothe equation above, which of the a Bowing seqaoa? 4) Tart b+ ; oe B) -18ar + b= 3c 7 ion © tar 16-0) wy att ee D) Nax-4e oy oo D) Star Hi catculator Fora ve of3i6 19 647 A) 403 WM catcutator; Gridin | | B) 496 If Ly + 6 = 139, what is the value of oss Beet pms Di catculator; Grid-in | | fr 122645 Lisa number greater than zero that satisfies the inequality above, what is oneORSBIB) value of x? 56Te 10 | Sorte sand examples from the Oficial Test: Algebraic Manipulation Solutions on page 207 6 ec TOA BoA 9 260 0 O 7 8 8 us 9 Liter 109 1 2330r783 The following Oficial Test questions will require your ability to solve systems of linear equations. ‘Test Section No caleulator Calculator No aleulator Caleuator 1 No aleulator Calculator Caleuator No caleulator Calculator No alevlator Calculator No caleulator 3 4 3 4 3 4 3: No ealoulator 4 3 4 2 4 3 4:Caleulator PSATINMSQT ®@WO DBO OHO math Guide Questions 9.118 18,28 2,9,20 4 619 24,29, 36 3.119 6 18 612,13 u 3 5,28,29R Lines ‘We just finished talking abou solving of systems of linear equations by graphing ‘them and fining their intersections, That's important stuff—lines (and, more ‘generally, graphs) ae really useful ols for solving algebra problems without ) a3) Dont even rhink of writing an equation here! Jus apply the frst thing you ever leamed about slope: that's the rise (up and down) over the rum (left and PWN Test Preptat Abrsnes right), You can easily list other points on the lin simply by adding 1 tothe y= value for every 3 you add to the x-value. In the following graph I've drawn the line by starting at (1,1) and figuring out one more point based onthe slope. Specifically, added | tothe p-value and 3 to the x-value to get (4,2) That means ‘we can eliminate D right away, of couse, but it should be enough to eliminate every incorrect choice Which answer choice does fll onthe graph? Choice B is nowhere close: (0,3) is very fir from the line, So B bas to be Your answer! AI oF the ther points clearly fll on the graph, OK, on to the mathy math I youte going todo algebra, you're going to want o use slope-intereept form ‘whenever posible. I'youre given the equation of ine and it’s notin slope-inter- cep form already, you Fist step iso gett there. Many questions will consist of| nothing more than comparing the slopes of numerous lines, so make sure you know this: Slope-intersent form of a line yeme+ mis your sop: bis your pinta B OBO OOO OHO math Guet ois ‘Some times you won't be given a ine equation a al, just two pont. In that ‘ase, you can calculate the slope using this formula (even (4,4) and (x, 74) a5 two points ona line) (One interesting thing o point out about the slope formula: if one of the points ‘youte dealing with isthe origin, (0, 0), then it’s realy easy to calculate the slope Say you know a line goes through (2,9) and (0, 0).The slope is $=P-=. The 0°23 ‘reason this is realy helpful is that if you know a line goes though the origin, then ‘you know tht any two point (x3) om that line will have the same 2 ratio.” Take Took at this question: earaprere alow Line m passes through the origin and has postive slope I 2, a) and (a, 8) are ‘oth online m, what isa? Because the question says the line passes through the origin, you know that th © at often ins mate te sae Sow an a a ‘We can solve that for aby eross-muliplying a=16 “4 ‘swt igre ina ott, ayy) ht wen ne gos tag the oii, seat presets a diet repation When weak sou res propornality and sy thei of thet varales mist sys be he sae, Chasey tee en ght when ine ges og rn ssi 2 fray poi 3) on 7” PWN Test Prep.ta Ar nes ince we know the line in question has. a positive slope—and, really, since we ‘know that grid-ins ean only have positive answers—we know the answer is 4 (One other thing you should know about slopes: you should beable to identify ‘whether one is postive, negative, zero, or undefined quickly by sight, Other line facts to know cold > The intercept of aline isthe x-value of the equation when y= 0 ‘> The p-imercept of a line (in the slope-interept form) isthe y-value ofthe equation when x0 > Paratlet es have the same slope. When line are parallel, they never Iersect. This means there is no onlered pair x,y) that satisfies the ‘equations of those lines—there are no solutions. > Perpendicular ines ave negative reciprocal spss (6 one tn Aloe of2 appending atop of +s ifone has slope of the other has a slope of jg )- Another way of saying this is thatthe product ofthe slopes of perpendicular lines is always —L ‘> Iasystem of equation has infinite solutions, that means thatthe ‘equations are equivalent. In other words, you only have infinite solutions ‘when the so lines you're dealing with are actually the same lie. When this is tru, your lines will have the same slope andthe same intercept > When you reflect a line over ether axis, te slope is negated. Ifyou reflect line over the x-axis, its intercept is also negated. Ifyou reflect a ine over the axis, its intercept stays the same. Consider the implications forthe slope-intercept form of ine. The reflection of | ye +2 over the axis isy = Br; the reflection ofy = 3 +2 over the y-axis is = 3x +2. (More on reflections and other graph ‘manipulations on page 97) One other reminder that deserves its own heading ‘When you are fold that a patieular point ison a in, thats the same as being told ‘thatthe equation ofthe line works out when that points plugged into the equ GB OOO GHG Math Guide 15eatin ines tion for x and y In other words, 4,6) son the line y= x-+2 because (6=4 +2, When a question gives you a point and an equation, put the point into the equation, Variants of the following question are fairly common, Let's sei given what \ve know about lines, we ean figure tout eerie teeter 2 3 origin is perpendicular to line p, and intersees line pat the point (c,¢+ 1). What Line p has a slope of ~% and a positive y-intecept. Line q passes through the isthe value of¢? at By? 3 D4 ‘With only a cursory glance it might seem like we dont have much to work “with here. Look closer. Note tha the question states that neg passes through the ‘origin, This is very important. K's common for the SAT writers o tell you that, and its also common for students to completely breeze by i. When alin passes through the origin, that means we have the y-intercept (zero). I also, more gener= ally, means we have a point, which ends up being the key to solving ots of| questions, PWN Test Prep,etaitnes So welanw eyinureptt ine 930, ve cance te ee ee ae eee eee ie 80 slope = m= ‘We an write the equation ofthe line yoms+b pas Then we ean drop the poin (¢,¢+ 1) into hat equation, and solve: 3 ett} e+ I)=3e 2e42=3e “The answer is B. The SAT writers are adept at writing dificult line questions, and 3s I said above, questions like this one are not uncommon, Make sure you understand ‘what's going on here Because isa good bet that youll see something like this again GTO GHO OHH math Guia 7Practice questions: Lines ‘cant tink of anything un to say abou ines. Tyo calculator ‘Whats the x-intercept of y A) 20 B)-4 os ps Sx—207 EB so catcslaor Ifa ine has lope of 2 an it pases throu he point (3,2) what eis intrcep? a6 Bo o-4 D6 EBs calculator Which ofthe following sets of points forms a line that i parallel 3» = 2+ 112 |. 3) and @3,-1) 4) and (3, -2) © 6 2)and 8,5) D) (7.4)and (5.7) 78 EB No catculstor Line has the equation has the equation 4y ~3e= 11 —d for some constants cand d lines {and m intersect at (3,2), what i the sum of e and Ay BT O10 Di EIN o calculator; Grid-in Ine, ene dem y he pon 3 and.) uses rag ci ep owiais 2? Wi cateulator ‘Which ofthe following isthe equation of line that is perpendicular to y+ 3 = 3-8? A) ay+1=26 B) 9y—6r= 18 Oyrar=9 D) y-3r=10Practice questions Lines ean nk of anya fy say abo ine i catcalaor BE scaator Wet 1y=3t Line inthe xplane contains pints from ‘Quadrant I and TV, but no posts from bores rans or I, Which ofthe flowin For wha valu of wl he system of Sustbetne! * Sastre aioe na slam? A) The slope fine is poste at 8) The slope ofline is ezaive D ©) The slope of ine tis 0 ay D) The slope of line Fs undefined. 1 o-% 2 D> Inthe system of equations above, a and Bare constants. Ifthe lines defined by fand g are expendi are? ular and intersect at (2,14), what is Karen is a serious golfer: she keeps careful Statistics in order to help herself improve. Based ona season's worth of data, she has vwiten the equation above to model the percentage of putts, p, she made when she ‘was d fet from the hole. Which ofthe following best summarizes the model? |A) For every 2 feet farther Kaen’ balls from the hole, se loses 7% accuracy. B) For every haf foot farther Kara's balls from the hole, se loses 7% accuraey. CC) For every 7 feet father Karen's balls from the hole, se loses 1% accuracy. 1) For every 7 feet father Karen's balls from the hole, she loses 2% accuracy. 79Answers: 1c 2 ¢ 3B 400 5 Answers and examples fram the Oficial Tests: Lines 3B or 375, Solutions on page 311 The following Offic Test Section 1 3: No calculator 4: Caleulator 3: No caleulator > at 4: Caleulator 3: Nocaleulator 3 seule 4: Caleulator 4 3: No caleulator 4:Caleulator 3: No aleulator 5 4:Caleulator 3: Noceleulator 6 4:Caleulator 3:No calculator PSATINMSQT 4: Calculator A D A D 433 oF 143, Test questions will equire your ability to work with lines, Questions 2 15,16 6.9.20 25,28 89 4,26,36 5 817 1 113,28 5 2,14,25,35 8.28 PWN Tost Prop.Absolute Value Tart you already know the very bases of absolute value that |S [-S]~5.ete. Taking the absolute value ofa positive number has no effect on the number. Taking the absolute value ofa negative number makes it positive. This applies, of course, to variables and expressions as well. The absolute value of xis just plain old x when xis postive, and ifs x when xs negative, Whenx<0 | When.x20 ewer ‘You might also find it helpful to think about absolute value at elates to a ‘number line. If you dont know wihether something is positive or negative, you must ‘account for both possibilities. When te = 5, then either x= 5, or —5. Is this bending your brain abit? Ori i ike duh? Stick around, pleas, either ‘way, because now it’ time to talk about the ways this stu will appear on the sat. DB®ODHO GOO math Guide 8niecer or 1f.aisthe value of x at which jx —3| 5 will equal its minimum value, and B is that minimum value, then what is a+b ? ‘The key to dealing with a question lke this isto recognize thatthe smallest, possible value you'e going to get from te jr 3] part of the expression is 0 ‘Because that whole bit inside absolute value brackets it ant ever be less than (0. Therefore, when that expression equals (that sto say, when x= 3), the whole Jr-3]+ S expression wil equal ts minimum value. $0 you know a3. rom there, it’ prety easy to find b baia3+5 bo g-3i+5 popes bes So there you go—a=3,b5,and a+ h=3 +5= 8, Easy enough, right? Absolute value and inequalities Interesting things tart happening when absolute values are combined with inequalities, so one ofthe SAT waiters’ favorite things to dois to kill wo birds ‘with one stone and tet absolute value and inequalities concomitantly. Remember ‘that = S means that r= 5, oF +S. You can draw similarly simple conclusions ‘with inequalities 1 tld you that p< 3, and yis an integer, then what are the possible values 1or-2. In other words, yhas to ‘be ess than 3, and preater than 3. You can get rd ofthe absolute value brackets fory? There arent many: y could equal 2 1,0 in| <3 by translating the expression into a range: -3 19 > Sv2=il Cool, right?Practice questions: Absolute Value ‘Srengthen your core (Get? Because “absolute has abe nk? High ve!) Wo calculator Which ofthe following expressions is never equal to 0 for any value of x? Ay We3I-1 B) fe-3)-1 © 143 D) e+ 1i-3) EW catculstor For what value of yis y—3] +3 equal 02? Ao B)2 93 ) There is no such valve of EBNe calcultor yeBs-7 According othe inequality above, ifx <0, ‘what i the minimum value ofy a7 Byo 2 D) There is no OOO OOO OHO marh Gui BBN calculator; Grid-in ‘Whether a taxpayer i eligible for a certain {government subsidy is determined by that taxpayers annual gross income. In oder to estimate the cost ofthe subsidy a data engineer writes a program to search atx feturn database and show only single taxpayers whose gross annual incomes are x, dollars, such that 24,800, <13,500, What Js the maximum gross annual income, in shousands of dollars, that a single taxpayer an make and sil qualify for this subsidy? (Round your answer to the nearest tenth; disregard the $ sign when gridding your answer) BEN calculator; Grid-n Iffe—9) +1 = 7.5, what isthe minimum value of? i catculator Ifa) +6] = 7 and a and b ae integers, which ofthe fllowing could NOT equal a+b? ays Bo o3 D7 87Practice questions: Absolute Value ‘Seenginen your core (Get #? Because “absolute” has abs ink? High ve!) i catculator Wi calculator einen a fe The table shove shou afew values forthe funetion g. According tothe table, which of the following statements is NOT true? A) Ie B) (aS) 5) © 017) - a= [20 [i caealtor D) [a(13)/< 209) All he bowlers on Robbie's bowling eam, Ske Fore, have average scores between 218 and 281. Which ofthe following inequalities can be used to determine whether «bowler with an average sore of s could be cathe team? Hl cateulator; Grid-in A) [s~ 233] <36 B) [e281] <215 © [s—181<233, D) [s-233)<18 The funtion g(x) is graphed above. Whats an integer value ofa for which ga) ~ g(a?Answers and examples frm the Oficial Tests: Absolute Value Answers: roc 6B 2D 7 8B 3A sD 433 9 B 5 28 10 30rd Solutions on page 314 ‘The following Official Test questions will equie your ability to work with absolute values. As you can see, there aren't many. As you will se if you look at ‘hem, theyre not particule hard Still, is ikely hat hard absolute valve ques tions will appear on real tests—be ready. Test Section Questions 1 3: No eaeulator ‘:Cacultor 8 3: No caleulaor 4: Calealator 23: No eaeulator > se cateataor 4 ENoedeulor 1 4: Cleator 23: No ealeulator 5 a:cateuator 3 6 4:Caeultor 28 23: No aeulator PSATINMSQT calculator OBO BHO THO math Guide — 90 Passport to Advanced Math ct me be really honest for @ minute, Way back inthe Spring of 2014, when College Board fist announced the new SAT, ond ove 0 big, sallcongrotulotory prest conference, | first chuckled, ‘hen scoffed ot the nome “Porsport to Advanced Math” Not quite cs muchos | did of "Heart of Algebro,” ofcourse, but sil. Ahearty Chuckle. The content inhi unit sno laughing moter, though There wil be 16 Poszport to Advanced Moth questions on your tex. The subscore for theze questions will heoreeeliy represent Your ily to solve “complex” clgebroic equation {ike ones whore the \eriable Is inthe denominctor, or ones thot valve exponents oF Fodicas). Bosicaly, this is everything that can be called elgebra ‘hot ion near equations, which ore eoptued ia the Heart of Algebre subscore, [As the moth gets more ond more complex, i ocually becomes herder for question writers to creote questions that arent suscep. fible to plugging in or bocksoling, Opportntier to vie the techniques obound in Passport to Advanced Math Say foxy: PWN TestFunctions ‘Think ofa function question lke you think ofa car wash, Not lke a fundraiser ear ‘wash you do to raise money for your next band trp, but an automatic car wash, Have you ever been to one of those? They're super coal Anyway, if drive my bird-poop-covered silver Toyota Yaris up tothe car wash, whats going to happen? Fist tl get sprayed with water, then with soap, then itl get tothe spinning brushes, then those dangly-slappy things that don' scem to serve much of purpose, then the rinse, then the biggest hairdryer of al time will Mow it dy \What comes out on the other end? A clean silver Yaris, Not clean blue Honda; that be crazy. However, ia dirty blue Honda went in ater my Yaris then all he same stuff would happen tits happened to my car, and then clean blue Honda would come out. “The points that you can always predict whats going to come out of car ‘wash based on what goes into it, Funtions ar the same way You've probably been working with the x) notation in school for some time now, but lets review some ofthe things youl see over and over again onthe SA Interpreting function notation (One thing you're definitely going to need to be able wo dois interpret function notation. For some questions, i's enough to remember that saying fx)~2", for example, is basically the same as saying y=», For other questions youre going to need to take that abit further and identify points on a graph using function notation, Here's quick cheat for you: when you hhave ft) =, that's the same as having the ordered pai (x) For example, if you know that 4) = 5, then you know that the grap of the funtion f contains the point (4,5). Likewise, you know that htc) p, you know tat the grap of fae- tion contains the pnt (cp). And soon [7 (x}=>) te (x, ylPasar inden Me Functions Basically, whatever is inside the parentheses is your x-value, and whatever's cross the equal signs your y-alue, This i important. Ifyou dont understand yet read it over and over until you do, Might help to write it down, Jus sayin. “To make sure youve got this, think about what the following things mean (answers atthe bottom of the pag). © £0 = mi2)=0 © 50)=70) Nested functions (functions in functions) Have you ever seen those dolls where you open them up and there are smaller ‘ones inside? They're called Russian nesting dolls. Google them sometime ‘Anyway, sometimes the SAT might puta function inside another function to ‘ty to bamboozle you. Dont let yourself get stymied here. ll you need to do is follow the instructions, same as you do with all other funetion questions. earner are ft) =x 10 nd g(x) = 2A) + 3, what is 2613)? AT B) -S oF D) -13 nev Te robot = i 3.0 hm 3 92 PWN Test PrepPaste cd Mate Functions Let’ just take this one step at atime. First lets take the V2 we'e given and put tin for every we se in gx). 20) = 24043 Not too bad, ight? Now let's replace the (V2) with an expression we can actually work with, Remember that fix) =x°— 10, so we write: 62) =2(60)'—10) +3 ‘See how this is working? Now just simplify to arrive at ehotee D: 902) =2¢-8)+3 02) =-13 Tables and function notation [Now that you're good with function notation by itself, i's time fo talk about how functions can be represented in table form, Its pretty common forthe SAT t0 ‘resent a function o youths way’ ‘We can use this table to find points. For example, 5) = 34, See ifyou can do the following questions(answers atthe bottom, natch) ‘% IFMfp)=18, what is one possible value for p? What is £6—4)? Whats (6) £4? “Holy crap those ae different? 7 The fncin Fees ut tobe gudrati and hr are values hat cul produce 1, ae af wich is3. In funtion. eat inpt an oly hve one tip npts an hve te sae opt. To go bak tec wash ‘example ue Hoods (npr tha goes bough can ast clean le Honda (oupu).Howeer, rea ty ‘ucla nthe ml 20 mile pas cn proce he same oa OBO GOGO OOO math Guide 8Pas Add Mah Suction Graphs and function notation Now that you're good with tables, let’ talk about function notation ait pertains to ‘graphs. Using fiction notation to interpret graphs is one of the most common ‘bugaboos of SAT math students. Ifyou'e willing to put in few minutes of ocused practice here, however, youll laugh inthe face ofthese dangerous ques- recip ae eee ‘The igure above shows the graph of fx) fom x= ~6 tox = 6. IfA3)~p, whats Sen a4 B) 2 o3 D6 The first thing I want to point ou, sinee I've found itto bea sticking point for Tot of students, i that you don't need to know the equation for fx). All he infor ‘mation you need to know isin the figure! To solve a question like this, you must remember a simple but important fact that we've already diseussed: that fla) = B {just shorthand for saying “the function f contains the point (a, 8.” So when this