Digital SAT Math — The Deep-Cut Formula & Concept Sheet
(Beyond the basics: everything niche that actually shows up)
1. ALGEBRA — Linear, Systems, Absolute Value
Slope forms
Point-slope: y - y₁ = m(x - x₁)
Standard form slope: for Ax + By = C , slope = -A/B , y-intercept = C/B
Parallel lines: same slope, different intercept
Perpendicular lines: slopes are negative reciprocals ( m₁·m₂ = -1 )
Systems of equations — special cases
Infinite solutions: equations are scalar multiples of each other (same slope,
same intercept) → ratios of A, B, C all equal
No solution: same slope, different intercept → ratio of A/B equal, but C ratio
different
One solution: different slopes
Absolute value equations: |x - a| = b → two cases, x - a = b and x - a = -b
Absolute value inequalities
|x| < a → -a < x < a
|x| > a → x < -a OR x > a
Distance/rate/time: d = rt ; combined work rate: 1/t₁ + 1/t₂ = 1/t_total
Direct variation: y = kx
Inverse variation: y = k/x
Joint variation: y = kxz
2. QUADRATICS & POLYNOMIALS
Standard form: ax² + bx + c = 0
Quadratic formula: x = (-b ± √(b² - 4ac)) / 2a
Discriminant Δ = b² - 4ac
Δ > 0 → 2 real solutions
Δ = 0 → 1 real solution (double root, vertex touches x-axis)
Δ < 0 → 0 real solutions (complex roots)
Vertex form: y = a(x - h)² + k , vertex = (h, k)
Vertex x-coordinate from standard form: x = -b/2a
Sum and product of roots (Vieta's formulas):
Sum: x₁ + x₂ = -b/a
Product: x₁ · x₂ = c/a
Factored form: y = a(x - p)(x - q) , roots at x = p, q
Completing the square: x² + bx = (x + b/2)² - (b/2)²
Difference of squares: a² - b² = (a+b)(a-b)
Perfect square trinomials: a² + 2ab + b² = (a+b)² ; a² - 2ab + b² = (a-b)²
Sum/difference of cubes:
a³ + b³ = (a+b)(a² - ab + b²)
a³ - b³ = (a-b)(a² + ab + b²)
End behavior of polynomials: even degree → both ends same direction; odd degree →
opposite directions; leading coefficient sign controls up/down
Multiplicity of roots: even multiplicity → graph touches x-axis and bounces; odd
multiplicity → crosses through
Number of turning points ≤ degree - 1
Remainder theorem: dividing p(x) by (x - a) gives remainder p(a)
Factor theorem: (x - a) is a factor of p(x) iff p(a) = 0
3. FUNCTIONS & TRANSFORMATIONS
f(x) transformations:
f(x) + k → shift up k
f(x - h) → shift right h
-f(x) → reflect over x-axis
f(-x) → reflect over y-axis
a·f(x) , |a|>1 → vertical stretch; 0<|a|<1 → compression
Composite functions: f(g(x)) — plug g(x) into f
Inverse functions: swap x and y, solve for y; graphically reflects over y = x
Exponential growth/decay: y = a(1 + r)^t (growth), y = a(1 - r)^t (decay)
Exponential with base e: y = ae^(kt)
Compound interest: A = P(1 + r/n)^(nt)
Continuous compounding: A = Pe^(rt)
Half-life / doubling: y = a(1/2)^(t/h) or y = a(2)^(t/d)
Rational functions: vertical asymptote where denominator = 0 (and numerator ≠ 0);
horizontal asymptote from degree comparison of numerator/denominator
Average rate of change: (f(b) - f(a)) / (b - a)
4. EXPONENTS & RADICALS
a^m · a^n = a^(m+n)
a^m / a^n = a^(m-n)
(a^m)^n = a^(mn)
a^0 = 1 (a ≠ 0)
a^(-n) = 1/a^n
a^(m/n) = ⁿ√(a^m) = (ⁿ√a)^m
√(ab) = √a · √b
Rationalizing denominators: multiply by conjugate for binomial radicals
5. GEOMETRY — Lines, Angles, Triangles
Triangle angle sum = 180°
Exterior angle theorem: exterior angle = sum of two remote interior angles
Triangle inequality: sum of two sides > third side
Similar triangles: corresponding sides proportional, corresponding angles equal
Special right triangles:
45-45-90: legs x, x , hypotenuse x√2
30-60-90: sides x, x√3, 2x
Pythagorean theorem: a² + b² = c²
Common Pythagorean triples: 3-4-5, 6-8-10, 5-12-13, 8-15-17, 7-24-25, 9-40-41
Law of Sines: a/sin A = b/sin B = c/sin C
Law of Cosines: c² = a² + b² - 2ab·cos C
Area of triangle (SAS): Area = (1/2)ab·sin C
Area of triangle (base-height): (1/2)bh
Heron's formula: s = (a+b+c)/2 , Area = √(s(s-a)(s-b)(s-c))
30-60-90 / equilateral triangle area: Area = (s²√3)/4
Midsegment theorem: midsegment is parallel to third side and half its length
Centroid divides median in 2:1 ratio
6. CIRCLES
Circle equation (center-radius form): (x - h)² + (y - k)² = r²
General form → complete the square to find center/radius
Circumference: C = 2πr = πd
Area: A = πr²
Arc length: s = (θ/360°)·2πr (degrees) or s = rθ (radians)
Sector area: A = (θ/360°)·πr²
Central angle = arc measure
Inscribed angle = half the central angle / half the intercepted arc
Radian conversion: radians = degrees × (π/180)
Tangent line perpendicular to radius at point of tangency
Chord-related: perpendicular from center bisects the chord
7. TRIGONOMETRY
SOH-CAH-TOA: sin = opp/hyp , cos = adj/hyp , tan = opp/adj
Complementary angle (cofunction) identity: sin(θ) = cos(90° - θ) — heavily
tested on Digital SAT
Pythagorean identity: sin²θ + cos²θ = 1
tan θ = sin θ / cos θ
Unit circle values for 0°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 90°
8. 3D GEOMETRY — Area & Volume
Rectangular prism volume: V = lwh
Cylinder volume: V = πr²h
Cylinder surface area: SA = 2πr² + 2πrh
Cone volume: V = (1/3)πr²h
Cone surface area: SA = πr² + πrl (l = slant height)
Sphere volume: V = (4/3)πr³
Sphere surface area: SA = 4πr²
Pyramid volume: V = (1/3)(base area)(height)
Similar solids: if linear scale factor = k, area scale factor = k², volume scale factor = k³
9. STATISTICS
Mean = sum/count
Median: middle value (avg of two middle if even count)
Mode: most frequent value
Range = max - min
Standard deviation: measures spread; larger spread = larger SD (SAT usually tests
conceptually, not by calculation)
Effect of adding a constant to all data: mean/median shift, SD/range unchanged
Effect of multiplying all data by constant k: mean, median, SD, range all multiply by
|k|
Outlier effect: mean is sensitive to outliers, median is not
Margin of error & confidence intervals: interval = estimate ± margin of error ;
smaller sample size → larger margin of error
Sampling: random sampling → generalizable to population; only random assignment
(not just random sampling) supports causal claims
Z-scores / normal distribution basics: 68-95-99.7 empirical rule (68% within 1 SD,
95% within 2 SD, 99.7% within 3 SD)
Weighted average: (w₁x₁ + w₂x₂ + ...) / (w₁ + w₂ + ...)
10. PROBABILITY
Basic probability: P = favorable outcomes / total outcomes
Complement: P(not A) = 1 - P(A)
Independent events: P(A and B) = P(A) · P(B)
Mutually exclusive events: P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B)
Non-mutually exclusive (general addition rule): P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B) - P(A and
B)
Conditional probability: P(A|B) = P(A and B) / P(B)
Two-way table probability: reading joint/marginal/conditional probabilities directly
from tables
11. RATIOS, PERCENTS & UNIT CONVERSION
Percent change: ((new - old)/old) × 100%
Percent increase/decrease applied sequentially (NOT additive): e.g., +10% then
-10% ≠ 0% net change; multiply the multipliers: original × 1.10 × 0.90
Scale factor / unit conversion: dimensional analysis, set up conversion chains
Density: density = mass/volume
12. SEQUENCES
Arithmetic sequence: aₙ = a₁ + (n-1)d
Geometric sequence: aₙ = a₁ · r^(n-1)
Arithmetic series sum: Sₙ = n(a₁ + aₙ)/2
Recursive definitions: each term defined in terms of previous term(s)
13. COMPLEX NUMBERS
i = √(-1), i² = -1
Powers cycle: i¹=i, i²=-1, i³=-i, i⁴=1 (cycle repeats every 4)
Adding/subtracting: combine real and imaginary parts separately
Multiplying: FOIL, then simplify i²= -1
14. MISCELLANEOUS NICHE TOPICS
Interpreting linear/exponential models in context: slope = rate of change, y-
intercept = starting value; exponential base = growth/decay factor
Systems of inequalities: shaded overlapping regions, test points
Piecewise functions: correct domain interval determines which rule to apply
Function notation with tables/graphs: reading f(a) = b from a graph or table
Data from scatterplots: line/curve of best fit, residuals (difference between actual and
predicted y-value)
Extraneous solutions: occur when squaring both sides of an equation or multiplying
by a variable expression — always check solutions in rational/radical equations
Rational equation solving: clear denominators, watch for restricted values
(denominator ≠ 0)
Nested/multi-step percent & ratio word problems: convert all quantities to
consistent units first
Absolute value as distance on number line: |x - a| = distance between x and a
Study tip: The Digital SAT (adaptive, Bluebook format) leans heavily on application of
these — expect word problems and graph/table interpretation over pure recall. Practicing
recognizing which formula a question is fishing for is often more valuable than memorizing
the formula itself.