SAT Math Hard Practice Quiz

Numbers and Operations 5. How many integers between 10 and 500 begin and end in
3?
1. A bag contains tomatoes that are either green or red.
The ratio of green tomatoes to red tomatoes in the bag
is 4 to 3. When five green tomatoes and five red tomatoes
are removed, the ratio becomes 3 to 2. How many red
tomatoes were originally in the bag?

(A) 12 6. A particular integer N is divisible by two different prime

(B) 15 numbers p and q. Which of the following must be true?
(C) 18
(D) 24 I. N is not a prime number.
(E) 30
II. N is divisible by pq.
III. N is an odd integer.

2. If each digit in an integer is greater than the digit to the (A) I only
left, the integer is said to be “monotonic”. For example, (B) II only
12 is a monotonic integer since 2 > 1. How many positive (C) I and II only
two-digit monotonic integers are there? (D) I and III only
(E) I, II, and III

(A) 28
(B) 32
(C) 36
(D) 40 7. A perfect square is an integer that is the square of an
(E) 44 integer. Suppose that m and n are positive integers such
that mn > 15. If 15mn is a perfect square, what is the
least possible value of mn ?

a, 2a − 1, 3a − 2, 4a − 3, . . .

3. For a particular number a, the first term in the sequence

above is equal to a, and each term thereafter is 7 greater
than the previous term. What is the value of the 16th
term in the sequence? 8. M is a set of six consecutive even integers. When the
least three integers of set M are summed, the result is x.
When the greatest three integers of set M are summed,
the result is y. Which of the following is true?

(A) y = x — 18
4. If p is a prime number, how many factors does p3 have? (B) y = x + 18
(C) y = 2x
(D) y = 2x + 4
(A) One (E) y = 2x + 6
(B) Two
(C) Three
(D) Four
(E) Five

pg. 1
 SAT Math Hard Practice Quiz

9. A three-digit number, XYZ , is formed of three different 10. An integer is subtracted from its square. The result could
non-zero digits X, Y , and Z. A new number is formed by be which of the following?
rearranging the same three digits. What is the greatest
possible difference between the two numbers? (For ex-
ample, 345 could be rearranged into 435, for a difference (A) A negative integer.
of 435 − 345 = 90.) (B) An odd integer.
(C) The product of two consecutive even integers.
(D) The product of two consecutive odd integers.
(E) The product of two consecutive integers.

pg. 2
 SAT Math Hard Practice Quiz

Algebra and Functions 4. Let m and n be positive integers such that one-third of
m is n less than one-half of m. Which of the following is
a possible value of m ?
1. Let m be √a n even integer. How many possible values of
m satisfy m + 7 ≤ 3 ?
(A) 15
(B) 21
(A) One (C) 24
(B) Two (D) 26
(C) Three (E) 28
(D) Four
(E) Five

5. If a and b are numbers such that (a— 4)(b + 6) = 0, then

x+3 what is the smallest possible value of a2 + b2 ?
2. Let be defined by = for any x such that
x−1
x /= 1. Which of the following is equivalent to —1?
x+2
(A)
x−1
4 6. Let f (x) = ax2 and g(x) = bx4 for any value of x. If a
(B) and b are positive constants, for how many values of x is
x−1
f (x) = g(x) ?
2x + 4
(C)
x−1
2 (A) None
(D) (B) One
x−1
(C) Two
x+2 (D) Three
(E)
x−2 (E) Four

3. Let a and b be numbers such that a3 = b2. Which of the

√ 7. Let a and b be numbers such that 30 < a < 40 and 50 <
following is equivalent to b a ? b < 70. Which of the following represents all possible
values of a − b ?
(A) b2/3

(A) −40 < a − b < −20

(B) b4/3 (B) −40 < a − b < −10
(C) −30 < a − b < −20
(C) b2 (D) −20 < a − b < −10
(E) −20 < a − b < 30
(D) b3

(E) b4

pg. 3
 SAT Math Hard Practice Quiz

11. Amy is two years older than Bill. The square of Amy’s
x y
+ =z age in years is 36 greater than the square of Bill’s age in
3 12 years. What is the sum of Amy’s age and Bill’s age in
8. In the equation shown above, x, y, and z are positive years?
integers. All of the following could be a possible value of
y EXCEPT

(A) 4
(B) 6
(C) 8 y
(D) 12
(E) 20

x
√ √ √ 1
72 + 72 = m n
9. In the equation above, m and n are integers such that
m > n. Which of the following is the value of m ?

(A) 6
(B) 12
(C) 16 12. The function f is graphed in its entirety above. If the
(D) 24 function g is defined so that g(x) = f (— x), then for what
(E) 48 value of x does g attain its maximum value?

(A) —3
(B) —2
(C) 0
t 0 1 2 (D) 2
(E) 3
N (t) 128 16 2

10. The table above shows some values for the function N .
If N (t) = k · 2−at for positive constants k and a, what is
13. If (x + 1)2 = 4 and (x − 1)2 = 16, what is the value of
the value of a ? x?
(A) −3
(A) —3
(B) −2 (B) —1
(C) 1
1 (D) 3
(C) (E) 5
3

(D) 2

(E) 3

pg. 4
 SAT Math Hard Practice Quiz
x x 16. Two cars are racing at a constant speed around a circu-
12 8 lar racetrack. Car A requires 15 seconds to travel once
around the racetrack, and car B requires 25 seconds to
travel once around the racetrack. If car A passes car B,
14. On the number line above, the tick marks correspond to how many seconds will elapse before car A once again
consecutive integers. What is the value of x ? passes car B ?

15. The value of y increased by 12 is directly proportional to

the value of x decreased by 6. If y = 2 when x = 8, what
is the value of x when y = 16 ?

(A) 8
(B) 10
(C) 16
(D) 20
(E) 28

pg. 5
 SAT Math Hard Practice Quiz

Geometry
a c

y
b
2 Note: Figure not drawn to scale.

2
3. In the figure above, 3 < a < 5 and 6 < b < 8. Which of
the following represents all possible values of c ?

x
(A) 0<c<3
(B) 1<c<3
(C) 0 < c < 13
(D) 1 < c < 13
(E) 3 < c < 13

1. The curve y = x2/2 and the line y = x/2 intersect at

the origin and at the point (a, b), as shown in the figure
above. What is the value of b ?
1
(A)
8
1
(B)
4
1
(C)
2
4. Line l goes through points P and Q, whose coordinates
(D) 1
are (0, 1) and (b, 0), respectively. For which of the fol-
1
(E) 2 lowing values of b is the slope of line l greater than − ?
2
1
(A)
2

(B) 1

B 3
(C)
2
60◦
6 8 5
(D)
3
5
(E)
A C 2
2. In the figure above, AB = 6 and BC = 8. What is the
area of triangle ABC ?

√
(A) 12√2
(B) 12√3
(C) 24√2
(D) 24 3
√
(E) 36 3

pg. 6
 SAT Math Hard Practice Quiz

B A
8. In the figure above, a square is inscribed in a circle. If
5. In the figure above, AB = 6 and BC = 8. What is the the area of the square is 36, what is the perimeter of the
length of segment BD ? shaded region?
√
(A) 2 3 2
(A) 6 + π
2
12
(B)
5 (B) 6 + 3π

(C) 4 √
(C) 6 + 3 2π

(D) 24 √
5 (D) 36 + 6 2π

9
(E) 6
(E) π−9
2

6. If four distinct lines lie in a plane, and exactly two of

them are parallel, what is the least possible number of
points of intersection of the lines? B

(A) Two
(B) Three
(C) Four
(D) Five A 7 C
(E) More than five Note: Figure not drawn to scale.

9. In the figure above, AC = 7 and AB = BC. What is the

7. The perimeter of a particular equilateral triangle is smallest possible integer value of AB ?
numerically equal to the area of the triangle. What is
the perimeter of the triangle?

(A) 3
(B) 4√
(C) 4√3
(D) 12√3
(E) 18 3

pg. 7
 SAT Math Hard Practice Quiz
y y

x
(10,

10. In the figure above, two line segments in the x-y plane
form a right triangle with the x-axis. What is the value
of a ?

√
(A) 2 2
(B) 4
x
(C) 5
√
(D) 4 2
√ Note: Figure not drawn to scale.
(E) 5 2

12. In the x-y plane, the lines y = 2x − 1 and y = x + c inter-

11. The perimeter of square ABCD is x, and the perimeter sect at point P , where c is a positive number. Portions
of these lines are shown in the figure above. If the value
of isosceles triangle EFG is y. If AB = EF = FG, which
of c is between 1 and 2, what is one possible value of the
of the following must be true?
x-coordinate of P ?
x
(A) 0<y<
4
x x
(B) <y<
4 2
x
(C) <y<x
2

(D) x < y < 2x

(E) 2x < y < 4x

pg. 8
 SAT Math Hard Practice Quiz

Data, Statistics, and Probability 3. Let a, b, and c be positive integers. If the average (arith-
metic mean) of a, b, and c is 100, which of the following
is NOT a possible value of any of the integers?
1. The first term of a sequence is the number n, and each
term thereafter is 5 greater than the term before. Which
of the following is the average (arithmetic mean) of the (A) 1
first nine terms of this sequence? (B) 100
(C) 297
(D) 298
(A) n + 20 (E) 299
(B) n + 180
(C) 2n
(D) 2n + 40
(E) 9n + 180
4. M is a set consisting of a finite number of consecutive
integers. If the median of the numbers in set M is equal
to one of the numbers in set M , which of the following
must be true?

I. The average (arithmetic mean) of the

numbers in set M equals the median.

II. The number of numbers in set M is odd.

III. The sum of the smallest number and the

largest number in set M is even.
2. The average (arithmetic mean) of a particular set of
seven numbers is 12. When one of the numbers is re-
placed by the number 6, the average of the set increases (A) I only
to 15. What is the number that was replaced? (B) II only
(C) I and II only
(D) I and III only
(A) — 20 (E) I, II, and III
(B) — 15
(C) — 12
(D) 0
(E) 12

pg. 9
 SAT Math Hard Practice Quiz Answers

Numbers and Operations 4. D (Estimated Difficulty Level: 4)

The answer must be true for any value of p, so plug in

1. B (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5) an easy (prime) number for p, such as 2. The factors of
23 = 8 are 1, 2, 4, and 8, so answer D is correct.
The number of green and red tomatoes are 4n and 3n,
respectively, for some integer n. In this way, we can be In general, since p is prime, the only numbers that go
sure that the green-to-red ratio is 4n/3n = 4/3. We into p3 without a remainder are 1, p, p2, and p3.
need to solve the equation:

4n − 5 3
= .
3n − 5 2
5. 11 (Estimated Difficulty Level: 4)
Cross-multiplying, 8n −10 = 9n −15 so that n = 5.
There were 3n, or 15, red tomatoes in the bag. For the two-digit numbers, only 33 begins and ends in
3. For three-digit numbers, the only possibilities are:
Working with the answers may be easier. If answer A 303, 313, . . ., 383, and 393. We found ten three-digit
is correct, then there were 16 green tomatoes and 12 numbers, and one two-digit number, for a total of 11
red tomatoes, in order to have the 4 to 3 ratio. But numbers that begin and end in 3.
removing five of each gives 11 green and 7 red, which is
not in the ratio of 3 to 2. If answer B is correct, then Yes, this was a counting problem soon after another
there were 20 green tomatoes and 15 red tomatoes, since counting problem. But this one wasn’t so bad, was it?
20/15 = 4/3. Removing five of each gives 15 green and
10 red, and 15/10 = 3/2, so answer B is correct.

6. C (Estimated Difficulty Level: 4)

2. C (Estimated Difficulty Level: 4) This type of SAT math question contains three separate
mini-problems. (This kind of question is also known as
From 10 to 19, 12 and up (eight numbers) are mono- “one of those annoying, long, SAT math questions with
tonic. Among the numbers from 20 to 29, seven (23 and roman numerals”). Let’s do each mini-problem in order.
up) are monotonic. If you can see a pattern in counting
problems like this, you can save a lot of time. Here, the First, recall that a prime number is only divisible by
30s will have 6 monotonic numbers, the 40s will have 5, itself and 1, and that 1 is not a prime number. So,
and so forth. You should find 8 + 7 + 6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + statement I must be true, since a number that can be
2 + 1 + 0 = 36 total monotonic numbers. divided by two prime numbers can’t itself be prime.

Next, recall that every number can be written as a prod-

uct of a particular bunch of prime numbers. Let’s say
that N is divisible by 3 and 5. Then, N is equal to
3 ·5 ·p1 ·p2 · ·,· where p1, p2, etc. are some other primes.
3. 113 (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5)
So, N is divisible by 3 · 5 = 15. Statement II must be
true.
Since the second term is 7 greater than the first term,
(2a − 1) − a = 7 so that a = 8. The sequence is 8, Finally, remember that 2 is a prime number. So, N
15, 22, . . . You can either continue to write out the could be 6, since 6 = 2· 3. Statement III isn’t always
sequence until the 16th term, or realize that the 16th true, making C the correct answer.
term is 16a − 15 = 16(8) − 15 = 128 − 15 = 113.

pg. 10
 SAT Math Hard Practice Quiz Answers

7. 60 (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5) 9. 792 (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5)

√
First, note that 15mn = 3 · 5 · mn. We need 3 · 5 · mn To get the greatest difference, we want to subtract a
to be an integer. We could have, for example, m = 3 small number from a large one, so we will need the
√ √
and n = 5 since 3 · 5 · 3 · 5 = 32 · 52 = 15, except digit 9 and the digit 1, in order to make a number in
that the problem requires that mn > 15. (This is a hard the 100’s and a number in the 900’s. The large number
problem for a reason, after all!) If m = 3 · 2 and n = 5 · 2 will look like 9N 1 and the small number will look like
1N 9, where N is a digit from 2 to 8. You will find that,
√then 15mn√= (3 · 5)(3 · 2)(5 · 2) = 3 · 5 · 2 . That way,
2 2 2
2 2 2 no matter what you make N , the difference is 792.
15mn = 3 · 5 · 2 = 30 is still an integer, making
the least possible value of mn equal to 6 · 10 = 60.

10. E (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5)

8. B (Estimated Difficulty Level: 4)
Suppose that the integer is n. The result of subtract-
A good opportunity to plug in real numbers! For ex- ing n from its square is n2− n = n(n − 1), which is
ample, suppose set M consists of the integers: 2, 4, 6, the product of two consecutive integers, so answer E is
8, 10, and 12. The sum of the least three is 12 and the correct.
sum of the greatest three is 30, so answer B is correct.
Notice that if you multiply any two consecutive integers,
You say you want an algebraic solution? Suppose that n the result is always even, since it is the product of an
is the first even integer. The remaining integers are then even integer and an odd integer. To win an Erik The
n+2, n+4, n+6, n+8, and n+10. The sum of the least Red Viking Hat, see if you can determine why the result
three of these integers is x = n+(n+2)+(n+4) = 3n+6, is never a negative integer.
and the sum of the greatest three of these integers is
y = (n+6)+(n+8)+(n+10) = 3n+24. So, y —x = 18,
or y = x + 18.

pg. 11
 SAT Math Hard Practice Quiz Answers

Algebra and Functions 4. C (Estimated Difficulty Level: 4)

Translate the words into an algebraic equation:

1. E (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5)
m m
= — n.
The answers suggest that there aren’t that many pos- 3 2
sibilities. So, make up some even integers, plug them
Multiplying both sides by 6 (the common denominator)
in for m, and see if they work! Since we can’t take the
gives 2m = 3m —6n, or m = 6n. So, m must be a
square root of a negative number, m can’t be less than
√ positive multiple of 6, which means that answer C is
−6. Also, if m = 2, then m + 7 = 3, but any larger correct.
value of m won’t work. So, the possible values are — 6,
−4, −2, 0, and 2. (Don’t forget that zero is a perfectly
good even integer.)

5. 16 (Estimated Difficulty Level: 4)

Since (a —4)(b+6) = 0, the possible solutions are: a = 4

2. B (Estimated Difficulty Level: 4) and b is anything, or b = — 6 and a is anything. Now,
the expression a2 + b2 is made smallest by choosing a
Plug in real numbers for x! You can plug in anything and b to be close to zero as possible. So, a = 4 and
other than 1. If you set x = 2, then − 1 = 5 − 1 = 4. b = 0 will give us the smallest value of a2 + b2, namely,
Now go through the answers, plugging in 2 for x. You 16. Using the other solution would give a2 + 36, which
will find that answers A and B are both equal in value will always be bigger than 16.
to 4. If this happens, simply plug in another number.
(You don’t need to retry the answers that were wrong.)
If x = 0, then − 1 = −3 − 1 = −4, and only answer
B is also −4, so that is the correct answer. 6. D (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5)
If you love algebra, here is how to do it: This is a tough one. For f (x) to be equal to g(x) for
x+3 all x, we need ax2 = bx4. First, notice that if x = 0,
—1= −1 both sides are zero, so x = 0 is a solution. If x is not
x−1 o n by x2 to
zero, we can divide both sides of the e q u a t i√
x+3 x−1 get: a = bx . Solving for x results in x = ± a/b. This
2
= −
x−1 x−1 makes three solutions total, so answer D is correct. It
x + 3 − (x − 1) may help to plug in numbers for a and b to make this
=
x−1 problem more concrete.
4
=
x−1
Be still my beating heart!
7. B (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5)

To make a —b as large as possible, we need to make a as

large as possible and b as small as possible. So, a — b has
3. B (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5) to be less than 40 − 50 = − 10. To make a − b as small
as possible, we need to make a as small as possible and
√
Solve the first equation given for a: a = b2/3. Then b as large as possible. So, a − b has to be greater than
a = a1/2 = b1/3. (You really need to know your ex-
√ 30 − 70 = −40. The expression that gives all possible
ponent rules for this one.) So, b a = b · b1/3 = b4/3. values of a − b is then −40 < a − b < −10.
Using real numbers also works here, but it may be hard
to come up with two that work for a and b (such as
a = 4 and b = 8).

pg. 12
 SAT Math Hard Practice Quiz Answers

8. B (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5) 11. 18 (Estimated Difficulty Level: 4)

Solve the equation for y. You should get: y = 12z— 4x. Let a be Amy’s age and b be Bill’s age. The problem
Factor out a 4 from the right-hand side: y = 4(3z — x). tells us that: a = b + 2 and a2 = b2 + 36. One way to
Since z and x are integers, 3z— x is an integer, so that do this is to plow ahead, substitute for one variable and
y is a multiple of 4. Only answer B is not a multiple of solve for the other (a bit messy!). But SAT questions
4, so it can’t be a possible value of y. are designed to be solved without tedious calculations
and/or messy algebra. Let’s try doing the problem us-
You could also combine the fractions on the left-hand ing the SAT way, not the math teacher way.
side of the equation to get:
First, notice that the second equation can be written as:
4x + y a2 —b2 = 36. This is a difference of two squares, and is
= z.
12 the same as: (a + b)(a— b) = 36. The first equation can
be written as: a —b = 2. This means that the second
For z to be an integer, 4x + y must be a multiple of equation is just (a + b) ·2 = 36, so that a + b = 18. We
12. Try plugging in various integers for x and y to get don’t know what a and b are, and we don’t even care!
multiples of 12; you should find that y can take on all
of the values in the answers except for 6.

12. B (Estimated Difficulty Level: 4)

You can obtain the graph of y = f — ( x) by “flipping”

9. B (Estimated Difficulty Level: 4)
the graph of y = f (x) across the y-axis. For exam-
ple, if the point (3, 1) is on the graph of f (x), then
Combining the two√terms on the left-hand side of the the point (−3, 1) must be on the graph of f (−x), since
equation gives us 2 72, but that doesn’t give us what f (−(−3)) = f (3) = 1.
we need, which is m > n.
The figure below tells the story. Here, the function
For the SAT test, you sh√
ould kno√w how to r√
ewrite and g(x) = f (−x) is shown as a dashed line:
simplify radicals. Here, 72√= 36 · 2 = 6 2, so the
left-hand side is equal to 12 2, making m = 12 and y
n = 2.

10. E (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5) x

1
Hint: if you see a zero in a table problem like this one,
try to use it first! When you plug in 0 for t, you get
N (0) = k · 2 −0 = k · 1 = k, which means that k = 128.

Next, try plugging in 1 for t: N (1) = 128· 2−a. From

· 2− = 16, or 2− =
a a
the table, N (1) = 16, so that 128
a
1/2 = 1/8. Since 8 = 23, a = 3. (Your calculator
may also help here, but try to understand how to do it
From the graph, g(x) is maximum when x = −2.
without it.)

pg. 13
 SAT Math Hard Practice Quiz Answers

13. A (Estimated Difficulty Level: 4) 16. 75/2 or 37.5 (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5)

A good “skip-the-algebra” way to do this problem is to To make this problem more concrete, make up a number
use the answers by plugging them into x until the two for the circumference of the racetrack. It doesn’t really
given equations work. Using answer A, you should find matter what number you use; I’ll use 75 feet. Since
that (− 3+1)2 = ( −2)2 = 4 and ( −3 − 1)2 = ( −4)2 = 16, speed is distance divided by time, the speed of car A
so answer A is correct. is 75/15 = 5 feet per second, and the speed of car B is
75/25 = 3 feet per second. (I picked 75 mostly because
You must have the algebraic solution, you say? Try it is divided evenly by 15 and 25.) Every second, car A
taking the square root of both sides of the equations, gains 2 feet on car B. To pass car B, car A must gain
but don’t forget that there are two possible solutions 75 feet on car B. This will require 75/2 = 37.5 seconds.
when you do this. The first equation gives: x + 1 = ±2
so that x = 1 or x = −3. The second equation gives You may be thinking, “Whoa, tricky solution!” Here
x − 1 = ±4 so that x = 5 or x = −3. The only solution is the mostly straightforward but somewhat tedious al-
that works for both equations is x = −3. gebraic solution. Once again, I’ll use 75 feet for the
circumference of the track. Suppose that you count
time from when car A first passes car B. Then, car A
travels a distance (75/15)t = 5t feet after t seconds.
(Remember that distance = speed× time.) For ex-
14. 96 (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5) ample, after 15 seconds, car A has traveled a distance
5 ·15 = 75 feet, and after 30 seconds, car A has traveled
Since the tick marks correspond to consecutive integers, a distance 5 · 30 = 150 feet. Similarly, car B travels a
and it takes four “steps” to go from x/12 to x/8, we distance (75/25)t = 3t feet after t seconds. When the
know that x/8 is four greater than x/12. (Or, think of two cars pass again, car A has traveled 75 feet more
the spaces between the tick marks: there are four spaces than car B: 5t = 3t + 75. Solving for t gives: 2t = 75,
and each space is length 1, so the distance from x/12 or t = 75/2 = 37.5 seconds.
to x/8 is 4.) In equation form:
x x
= + 4.
8 12
Multiplying both sides by 24 gives: 3x = 2x + 4 · 24 so
that x = 96.

15. B (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5)

First, recall that if y is proportional to x, then y = kx

for some constant k. So, “y increased by 12 is directly
proportional to x decreased by 6” translates into the
math equation: y + 12 = k(x − 6). Plugging in y = 2
and x = 8 gives 14 = k · 2 so that k = 7. Our equation
is now: y + 12 = 7(x − 6). Plugging in 16 for y gives
28 = 7(x − 6) so that x − 6 = 4, or x = 10.

pg. 14
 SAT Math Hard Practice Quiz Answers

Geometry 3. D (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5)

You need to know the “third-side rule” for triangles to

1. C (Estimated Difficulty Level: 4) solve this question: The length of the third side of a
triangle is less than the sum of the lengths of the other
To determine where two curves intersect, set the equa- two sides and greater than the positive difference of the
tions equal to one another and solve for x. (Hint: know lengths of the other two sides. Applied to this question,
this for the SAT!) In this question, we need to figure the first part of the rule says that the value of c must be
out which values of x satisfy: x2/2 = x/2. If x = 0, less than a + b. Since we are interested in all possible
this equation works, but we need the solution when values of c, we need to know the greatest possible value
x = 0. Dividing both sides of the equation by x gives: of a + b. With a < 5 and b < 8, a + b < 13 so that c
x/2 = 1/2 so that x = 1. By plugging in x = 1 to either must be less than 13.
of the two curves, you should find that y = 1/2. So, the
point of intersection is (1, 1/2), making answer C the For the second part of the rule, c must be greater than
correct one. b− a. (Note that b is always bigger than a, so that b− a
is positive.) We are interested in all possible values of
c, so we need to know the least possible value of b— a.
The least value occurs when b is as small as possible and
a is as large as possible: b− a > 6− 5 = 1. Then, c must
be greater than 1. Putting this together, 1 < c < 13,
2. B (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5) making answer D the correct one.

This is the kind of problem that would be too hard

and/or require things you aren’t expected to know for
the SAT (such as trigonometry), unless you draw a con- 4. E (Estimated Difficulty Level: 4)
struction line in the figure. (This is a very hard question
anyway.) In this case, you want to draw a line from A First, calculate the slope of line l using the given points:
perpendicular to the opposite side of the triangle:
rise 0−1 1
slope = = =− .
B run b−0 b
60◦ At this point, a good approach is to work with the an-
6 8 swers by plugging them into the expression for slope
30◦ above until you get a value greater than— 1/2. For ex-
ample, using answer A gives a slope of − 1/(1/2) =−2,
which is not greater than —1/2, so answer A is incor-
A C rect. You should find that answer E is the correct one,
since −1/(5/2) = −2/5 is greater than − 1/2. (Know-
ing the decimal equivalents of basic fractions will really
This forms a 30-60-90 triangle whose hypotenuse has help speed this process up.)
length 6. Now, use the 30-60-90 triangle diagram given
to you at the beginning of each SAT math section: The Here is the algebraic solution:
length of the side opposite the 30◦ angle is 3, and the
length of√t he side opposite the 60◦ angle (the dashed 1 1 1 1
line) is 3 3. — >− ⇒ < ⇒ b > 2.
b 2 b 2

So finally, if the base of the triangle is segment BC, (Remember to flip the inequality when multiplying by
then the dashed line is the height of the triangle, and negative numbers or when taking the reciprocal of both
√ √
the area of the triangle is (1/2) · 8 · 3 3 = 12 3. sides.) Only answer E makes b > 2.

pg. 15
 SAT Math Hard Practice Quiz Answers

5. D (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5) 7. D (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5)

Since One formula that a good math student such as yourself

√ ABC is a right triangle, the length of segment AC
is 62 + 82 = 10. (Hint: you will see 3-4-5 and 6-8-10 may want to memorize for the SAT is the area of an
equilateral triangle. If the len gth of each side of the
triangles a lot on the SAT.) The area of triangle ABC √
is (1/2) ·b h,
· where b is the base and h is the height of triangle is s, then the area is 3s2/4. The perimeter of
triangle ABC. this triangle is 3s.

The key thing to remember for this problem is that the Now, since the perimete r equals the area for this tri-
√ √
base can be any of the three sides of a triangle, not just angle, we have: 3s = 3s2/4 so that 3 = 3s/4 and
√ √ √
the side at the bottom of the diagram. If the base is s = 12/ 3 = 4 3. The perimeter is then 12 3, mak -
√
AB, then the height is BC and the area of the triangle ing answer D the correct one. (Did you get s = 4 3
is (1/2)(6)(8) = 24. If the base is AC, then the height is and then choose answer C? Sorry about that.)
BD and the area of the triangle is still 24. This means
that (1/2)(AC)(BD) = (1/2)(10)(BD) = 24 so that
BD = 24/5.

8. A (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5)

For many difficult SAT questions, it can be very helpful

to know some “extra” math along with the “required”
math. First, when a square is inscribed in a circle,
the diagonals are diameters of the circle. Second, the
diagonals of a square m√eet at right angles. Third, a
diagonal of a square is 2 times as long as the length
6. B (Estimated Difficulty Level: 4) of one of the sides. (A diagonal of a square makes a 45-
45-90 triangle with two sides.) For this question, the
Draw a diagram for this problem! With exactly two length of each side of the square is 6 (since th e area is
√
parallel lines, the other two lines cannot be parallel to 62 = 36), and the length of a diagonal is 6 2, so the
√
themselves or to the first two lines. Your diagram may radius of the circle is 3 2, as shown below:
seem to suggest five points of intersection; however, the
point of intersection of the two non-parallel lines can
overlap with a point of intersection on one of the parallel
lines:

A final piece of needed math: the arc length of a portion

of a circle is the circumference times the central angle of
the arc divided by 360◦. Here, the central angle is 90◦,
so the needed arc length (shown darkened in the figure
above) is just 1/4 times the circle’√
s circumfere√n ce. The
arc length is then 2πr/4 = 2π · 3 2/4 = 3π√ 2/2 and
From the figure, the least possible number of intersec- the perimeter of the shaded region is 6 + 3π 2/2.
tion points is then three.

pg. 16
 SAT Math Hard Practice Quiz Answers

9. 4 (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5) 11. C (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5)

You need to know half of the “third-side rule” for trian- Make a diagram, and fill it in with the information that
gles to solve this question: The length of the third side is given. (You should do this for any difficult geome-
of a triangle is less than the sum of the lengths of the try question without a figure.) Since the perimeter of
other two sides. For this question, we will make AC the square ABCD is x, each side of the square has length
third side. x/4, so your figure should look something like this:

Now, suppose that the length of each of the other two x

sides of the triangle is x, so that AB = BC = x. Then, B 4 C F
the third-side rule says that AC is less than the sum of
AB and BC: 7 < x + x. Simplifying gives: 2x > 7 so x x x x
that x > 3.5. The smallest possible integer value for x 4 4 4 4
is 4.
A x D E G
4

Now, use the third-side rule for triangles: The length

of the third side of a triangle is less than the sum of
the lengths of the other two sides and greater than the
positive difference of the lengths of the other two sides.
10. B (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5) When the rule is applied to EG as the third side, we
get: 0 < EG < x/2. If y is the perimeter of the triangle,
One way to do this question is to use the fact that the then y = x/4 + x/4 + EG = x/2 + EG. Solving for EG
product of the slopes of two perpendicular lines (or line gives EG = y—x/2. Substituting into the inequality
segments) is −1. The slope of the line segment on the gives 0 < y — x/2 < x/2 so that x/2 < y < x, mak-
left is (a − 0)/(2 − 0) = a/2. The slope of the line ing answer C the correct one. To make this problem
segment on the right is (0 − a)/(10 − 2) = −a/8. The less abstract, it may help to make up a number for the
two slopes multiply to give −1: perimeter of the square. (A good choice might be 4 so
that x = 1. You’ll find 1/2 < y < 1, the same as answer
a −a a2 C when x = 1.)
· =− = −1.
2 8 16
Solving for a gives a2 = 16 so that a = 4. A messier
way to do this problem is to use the distance formula
and the Pythagorean t√heor e m. The length of the line 12. 2 < x < 3 (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5)
segment on the left is 22 + a2, and the length of line
√
segment on the right is (10 − 2)2 + (0 − a)2. Then, In order to determine at what point two lines intersect,
the Pythagorean theorem says that: set the equations of the lines equal to one another. In
√ √ this case, we have: 2x − 1 = x + c so that x = c + 1.
2 2 2 In other words, x = c + 1 is the x-coordinate of P , the
22 + a2 + (10 − 2)2 + (0 − a)2 = 10 .
point where the lines intersect. Now, if c is between 1
Simplifying the left-hand side gives: 2a2 + 68 = 100 so and 2, then c + 1 is between 2 and 3. Any value for the
that 2a2 = 32. Then, a2 = 16, making a = 4. x-coordinate of P between 2 and 3 is correct.

pg. 17
 SAT Math Hard Practice Quiz Answers

Data, Statistics, and Probability 3. E (Estimated Difficulty Level: 4)

Using the definition of average gives:

1. A (Estimated Difficulty Level: 4)
a+b+c
= 100
The first nine terms of the sequence are: 3
so that a + b + c = 300. Since a, b, and c are all positive,
n, n + 5, n + 10, n + 15, . . . , n + 40.
the smallest possible value for any of the numbers is 1.
The largest possible value of one of the three numbers
(You should probably write all nine terms out to avoid
then occurs when the other two numbers are both 1. In
mistakes.) Adding these terms up gives: 9n + 180. The
this case, the numbers are 1, 1, and 298, so that the
average is the sum (9n + 180) divided by the number of
largest possible value is 298. Answer E can not be a
terms (9). The average is then: (9n + 180)/9 = n + 20.
possible value, so it is the correct answer.

4. E (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5)

2. B (Estimated Difficulty Level: 5)
Plug in real numbers for set M to make this problem
concrete. For example, if M is the set of consecutive
The average of a set of numbers is the sum of the num-
integers from 1 to 5, then the median and average are
bers divided by the number of numbers:
both 3. If M is the set of consecutive integers from 1
sum to 4, then the median and average are both 2.5. From
average = . these examples, we can see that the number of numbers
N
in set M needs to odd, otherwise the median is not an
We can solve this equation for the sum: integer. Choice II must be true.

sum = average × N. Also, if the number of numbers in a set of consecutive

integers is odd, then when the first number is odd, the
Here, since there are 7 numbers and the average is 12, last number is odd. Or, when the first number is even,
the sum of the numbers is 7× 12 = 84. The sum of the the last number is even. This is because the difference
new set of numbers is 7× 15 = 105. Now, suppose that of the largest number and the smallest number will be
the seven numbers are a, b, c, d, e, f , and g, and that even when the number of numbers is odd. Choice III
g gets replaced with the number 6. Then, we have: must then be true, since the sum of two odd numbers
or two even numbers is an even number.
a + b + c + d + e + f + g = 84,
At this point, the only answer with choices II and III is
and answer E, so that must be the correct answer. Why is
a + b + c + d + e + f + 6 = 105. choice I also correct? The average of a set of consecutive
integers is equal to the average of the first and the last
The second equation says that a + b + c + d + e + f = 99. integers in the set. The average of two integers that are
Substituting into the first equation gives 99 + g = 84 so both odd or both even is the integer halfway between
that g = −15. the two, which is also the median of the set. Whew!

pg. 18