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ACT math practice test 18

1. The sides of a triangle are 9, 12, and 15 centimeters
long. What is the angle between the 2 shortest sides?
F. 180°
G. 90°
H. 60°
J. 45°
K. 30°
2. In the pentagon shown below, one interior angle
measures 40°. What is the total measure of the other 4
interior angles?

A. 120°
B. 160°
C. 320°
D. 500°
E. 680°
3. For real numbers r and s, when is the equation |r - s| =
| r + s| true?
F. Always
G. Only when r = s
H. Only when r = 0 or s = 0
J. Only when r > 0 and s < 0
K. Never
4. What is the value of log4 64?
A. 3
B. 4
C. 8
D. 10
E. 16
5. How many different positive three-digit integers can be
formed if the three digits 3, 4, and 5 must be used in each
of the integers?
F. 6
G. 8
H. 12
J. 15
K. 24
6. Which of the following is the set of all real
numbers x such that x - 3 < x - 5?

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A. The empty set
B. The set containing only zero
C. The set containing all nonnegative real numbers
D. The set containing all negative real numbers
E. The set containing all real numbers
7. What is the slope of a line that is perpendicular to the
line determined by the equation 7x + 4y = 11?
F. -4

G.

H.

J.
K. 4
8. If each element in a data set whose mean is x is
multiplied by 3, and each resulting product is then reduced
by 4, which of the following expressions gives the mean of
the resulting data set in terms of x?
A. x
B. 3x - 4

C.

D.

E.

9. If , then tan θ = ?

F.

G.

H.

J.

K.
10. The City Council has approved the construction of a
circular pool in front of City Hall. The area available for the
pool is a rectangular region 12 feet by 18 feet, surrounded
by a brick wall. If the pool is to be as large as possible
within the walled area, and edge of the pool must be at
least 2 feet from the wall all around, how many feet long
should the radius of the pool be?
A. 14

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B. 9
C. 7
D. 5
E. 4
11. Kate rode her bicycle to visit her grandmother. The trip
to Kate's grandmother's house was mostly uphill, and
took m minutes. On the way home, Kate rode mostly
downhill and was able to travel at an average speed twice
that of her trip to her grandmother's house. Which of the
following expresses the total number of minutes that Kate
bicycled on her entire trip?
F. 3m
G. 2m

H.

J.

K.
12. Let n equal 3a + 2b-7. What happens to the value
of n if the value of a increases by 2 and the value
of b decreases by 1?
A. It is unchanged.
B. It decreases by 1.
C. It increases by 4.
D. It decreases by 4.
E. It decreases by 2.
13. In the figure below, ΔABC is a right triangle with legs
that measure x and 3x inches, respectively. What is the
length, in inches, of the hypotenuse?

F.

G.

H.

J. 2x
K. 4x
14. If the edges of a cube are tripled in length to produce a

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new, larger cube, then the larger cube's surface area is
how many times larger than the smaller cube's surface
area?
A. 3
B. 9
C. 18
D. 27
E. 54
15. Considering all values of a and b for which a + b is at
most 9, a is at least 2, and b is at least -2, what is the
minimum value of b - a?
F. 0
G. -7
H. -11
J. -13
K. -15

Answers and Explanations

1. Correct Answer: G
Explanation:
The correct answer is G. A triangle with sides 9, 12, and 15 centimeters long has sides in the ratio of 9:12:15, which
simplifies to 3:4:5. Recall that a 3-4-5 triangle is a special case because it is known to be a right triangle. Any triangle
with sides in the same ratio is also a right triangle. Thus, there is a right angle between the smaller sides.

2. Correct Answer: D
Explanation:
The correct answer is D. The sum of the interior angles of a pentagon is (5 - 2)(180°), or 540°. Thus, the total of the
other 4 angles is 540°- 40°, or 500°.

3. Correct Answer: H
Explanation:
The correct answer is H. The equation |r - s| = | r + s| is true only when r = 0 or s = 0. Thus, |0 - s| = |0 + s|, or |r - 0| =
|r + 0|.
4. Correct Answer: A
Explanation:
The correct answer is A. Logarithms are used to indicate exponents of certain numbers called bases. By definition,
loga b = c, if ac = b. To solve, let log4 64 = x; therefore, 64 = 4x. Because 43 = 64, x = 3.
5. Correct Answer: F
Explanation:
The correct answer is F. To solve, write out every possible three-digit integer: 345, 354, 435, 453, 534, and 543; six
different positive three-digit numbers can be formed, answer choice F.

6. Correct Answer: A
Explanation:
The correct answer is A. To find the real numbers x such that x - 3 < x - 5, you could subtract x from both sides. The
result is -3 < -5, and because that inequality is never true, there is no solution for x. The solution set is the empty set. If
you chose an incorrect answer you might have thought that a negative value for x might reverse the inequality, which is
not the case.
7. Correct Answer: H

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Explanation:
The correct answer is H. Perpendicular lines have slopes that are opposite reciprocals. To find the slope of a line
perpendicular to 7x + 4y = 11, first find the slope by converting the equation to slope-intercept form, then take the
opposite reciprocal. To do so, first subtract from both sides to get 4y = -7x + 11. Next, divide both sides by 4 to

get . Since the slope in this line is , the slope of a line perpendicular to that is .
8. Correct Answer: B
Explanation:
The correct answer is B. For the sake of simplicity, let every element in the original set have the value x. If each
element in the set is multiplied by 3, and then reduced by 4, each element then has the value 3x - 4. In a set where
each value is 3x -4, the mean is 3x - 4.
9. Correct Answer: G
Explanation:

The correct answer is G. One way to find tan θ given that and , is to first find sin θ, then

find (which is equivalent to tan θ). To find sin θ, use the identity sin2θ + cos2 θ = 1 and the fact that sin θ > 1 in

Quadrant II ( would place the angle in Quadrant II). Substituting you get ,

or . After subtracting , you get . After taking the square root of both sides, you get

sin . Because sin θ > 1 in Quadrant II, . Substituting into gives you , which equals .
Another way you could solve this problem would be to construct a right triangle with leg 3 and hypotenuse 5. By virtue
of the Pythagorean Theorem, the missing side of the right triangle is 4 units long. From this triangle, knowing

that , you can get tan . Then by using the fact that , you could infer that tan θ was
negative.
10. Correct Answer: E
Explanation:
The correct answer is E. First, draw the picture of the circular pool according to the information given in the problem,
where the distance from the edge of the pool to the edge of the long side of the rectangular region is 2 feet. The
distance from the edge of the pool to the edge of the sin short side of the rectangular region can be anything greater
than 2, but it is not necessary to know this distance to solve the problem:

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Now you can determine the diameter of the circular pool. The diameter is the maximum distance from one point on a
circle to another (the dashed line). Since the short side of the rectangular region is 12 feet, and the distance from the
edge of the circular pool to each edge of the long sides of the rectangular region is set at 2 feet, the diameter of the

circle must be 12 feet – 2(2 feet), or 12 feet – 4 feet, or 8 feet. The question asks for the radius of the pool, which is of

the diameter, or 4.

11. Correct Answer: J

Explanation:
The correct answer is J. According to the problem, Kate traveled distance d in m minutes on the way to her

grandmother's house, and she traveled distance d in minutes (because she went twice as fast, it took her half as

long) on the way back. The total number of minutes traveled would be equal to the number of minutes Kate traveled to
her grandmother's house and back:

12. Correct Answer: C

Explanation:
The correct answer is C. To solve this problem, replace the a and b in 3a + 2b - 7 with a + 2 and b - 1. The result is
3(a + 2) + 2(b - 1) - 7. Distribute to get 3a + 6 + 2b - 2 - 7 = 3a + 2b - 3. Comparing 3a + 2b - 7 and 3a + 2b - 3, it is
apparent that the value of n increases by 4 if the value of a increases by 2 and the value of b decreases by 1.
13. Correct Answer: F
Explanation:
The correct answer is F. To solve, use the Pythagorean Theorem. The hypotenuse, c, is related to the legs x and 3x by

the equation c2 = x2 + (3x)2, which is equivalent to x2 + 9x2, or 10x2. Since .

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14. Correct Answer: B

Explanation:
The correct answer is B. Let the length of the edge of the smaller cube be s. The surface area is then 6s2. If the length
of the edges are tripled, then s is replaced by 3s, making the surface area 6(3s)2 = (9)6s2, or 9 times larger than the
initial surface area.
15. Correct Answer: J
Explanation:
The correct answer is J. The first step in solving this problem is to rewrite the information in mathematical terms, as
follows:

a + b is at most 9 means that a + b ≤ 9

a is at least 2 means that a ≥ 2
b is at least -2 means that b ≥-2
Given the information above, the value of b - a will be least when b is at its minimum value of -2. In that case,
since a + b ≤ 9, then a + (-2) ≤ 9, and a ≤ 11. Therefore, at its minimum, b - a is equivalent to -2 - 11, or -13.

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