The Math SAT is extremely tricky. The following our a few tips to help you avoid the traps and do well.
- If it asks for a or whatever such that two equations have no solutions or infinitely many solutions, the slopes must be the same. Therefore set the ratios of the coefficients of the x and y values equal and solve for a.
- Frequently, the problems will change units. For example, the question will be in years but the answer will be in months.
- If the math is difficult, it is better sometimes to estimate. For example, there is a problem which the book method requires deriving the formula for the area of a regular hexagon. That is a huge time trap.
- If a function increases or decreases by a fixed amount it is linear. If it increases or decreases by a fixed ratio of percentage, it is exponential.
- If given a chart with a line of best fit, beware that the scales on the x- and y-axes are usually different. Also beware the x-values usually do not start at 0, so you cannot just read the y-intercept off the graph.
- For most radical equation problems, just backsolve, plugging in the answer choice. If you solve algebraically, you will just need to check the answers anyway.
- If given a graph and asked to find its equation, it is usually best to plug in x- and y- values from the graph into the answer choices.
- The number of solutions a system of equations has is the number of intersection points of the graphs of the equations. If there are 3 equations graphed, a solution is a point where all 3 graphs meet.
- When calculating the slope of data with a line of best fit or scatter plot, ignore what the slope looks like and find the slope with the slope formula from the values, as there are usually different scales for the x- and y- axes
- The line y = 2 has a slope of 0. For the line x = 2, the slope is undefined.
- If a survey is conducted of a sample of a particular group, the results can be extended only to that group. For example of middle school students in a certain county, only to middle school students in that county.
- In a linear function, the y- values increase or decrease by a fixed amount. In an exponential function they increase or decrease by a fixed ratio.
- If you are evaluating a function at a negative value, finding f(-1) or f(-3), etc., it is probably best to do the math without a calculator, as it is easy to mess up parentheses etc. with a calculator.
- If the percent who will vote for Candidate A is 54% with a margin of error of 3%, the actual percent who will vote for Candidate A is probably between 51% and 57%.
- A model overestimates at a data point if the line of best fit is over that dot; it underestimates if the line is under the dot.Math SAT tips, Math SAT traps
