CHAPTER 5

APPLYING
STRATEGIES,
BUILDING SKILLS

This chapter contains exercises designed to help you focus on the concepts that
are generally tested on the ACT Mathematics Test in the areas of pre-algebra,
elementary algebra, intermediate algebra, coordinate geometry, plane geometry,
and trigonometry. The questions in this chapter, although they are in ACT format,
are presented differently from those you will see on your ACT exam. They are
separated first into broad content areas and then assigned one of three difficulty
levels: easy, medium, or hard. We did this to give you an additional opportunity
to practice working with and recognizing specific math concepts at varying lev-
els of difficulty. Keep in mind that you are likely to see many different types of
questions on your actual ACT, and that the questions given in this and subsequent
chapters represent a sample of question types that have appeared on previous tests.
Chapters 6, 7, 8, and 9 each contain a simulated ACT Mathematics Test. These
additional tests will allow you to become more familiar with the types of questions
you will see on your actual ACT exam.

PRE-ALGEBRA
These questions will test your knowledge of operations using whole numbers,
fractions, and decimals; square roots; scientific notation; linear equations with one
variable; ratios, proportions, and percents; absolute value; simple probability; data
interpretation; and very basic statistics.

Difficulty Level: Easy

1. The odometer on Jordan’s car read 23,273 miles when he left on a trip and
23,650 miles when he returned. Jordan drove his car 6.5 hours on the trip.
Based on the odometer readings, what was his average driving speed on
the trip, in miles per hour?
A. 53
B. 58
C. 60
D. 65
E. 67

79

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 80 CHAPTER 5

2. For integers x and y such that xy = 8, which of the following is NOT a pos-
sible value of x?
F. -8
G. -6
H. -4
J. 1
K. 2

3. For the campers attending College Prep Camp this summer, the ratio of
male campers to female campers is 3:5. Which of the following statements
about the campers is (are) true?
   I. For every 5 females, there are 3 males.
II. There are more males than females.
3
III. Males make up of the campers.
5
A. I only
B. II only
C. III only
D. II and III only
E. I, II, and III

1 1
4. Al needs 12 feet of lumber to complete a project. He has 8 feet of
4 2
lumber. How many more feet of lumber does he need?
1
F. 3 feet
2
1
G. 3 feet
3
3
H. 3 feet
4
J. 4 feet
1
K. 4 feet
3

5. What is the solution to the equation 5b - (-b + 3) = 21?

A. -4
B. 4
C. 6
D. 7
E. 13

6. What is the median of the data given below?

8, 13, 9, 8, 15, 14, 10
F. 8
G. 8.5
H. 10
J. 11
K. 15

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 APPLYING STRATEGIES, BUILDING SKILLS 81

7. What is the value of |4 - x| if x = 7?

A. -3
B. 3
C. 4
D. 11
E. 28

8. Mike had 2 more baseball cards than Jen. Then he bought 3 baseball cards
from Jen. Now how many more baseball cards does Mike have than Jen?
F. 12
G. 8
H. 6
J. 2
K. -4

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. The cost for a company to produce c computers in 1 year is $200c +
$300,000. How many computers can the company produce in 1 year at a
cost of $700,000?
A. 2,000
B. 2,667
C. 3,500
D. 5,000
E. 5,333

1 2 1 2 1 2

10.   +   +   = ?
2 3 4
1
F.
29
3
G.
29
61
H.
144
15
J.
32
K. 9

11. If you add up 6 consecutive even integers that are each greater than 25, what
is the smallest possible sum?
A. 150
B. 165
C. 174
D. 186
E. 210
3 1
12. About what percent of is ?
5 5
F. 20%
G. 33%
H. 50%
J. 67%
K. 300%

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 82 CHAPTER 5

13. According to a recent survey of children about their favorite color, 20%
of the children preferred red, 40% of the children preferred blue, 20% of
the children preferred purple, and the remaining children preferred green.
If each child preferred only 1 color and 30 children preferred green, how
many children were surveyed?
A. 60
B. 90
C. 120
D. 150
E. 180
14. The ratio of a side of square X to the length of rectangle Y is 4:5. The ratio
of a side of square X to the width of rectangle Y is 4:3. What is the ratio of
the area of square X to the area of rectangle Y?
F. 12:15
G. 16:15
H. 18:15
J. 10:16
K. 12:16

Difficulty Level: Hard

(a × 0.01)(b ×10 3 )
15. For all nonzero a and b, =?
A. 1 (a ×10−2 )(b ×1, 000)
B. 10
C. 105
a
D.
b
2
E. b
a
16. The set of all positive integers that are divisible by both 15 and 35 is infi-
nite. What is the least positive integer in this set?
F. 5
G. 7
H. 50
J. 105
K. 210
17. For any real number n, the equation | x - n | = 8 can be thought of as
meaning “the distance on the real number line from x to n is 8 units.” How
far apart are the 2 solutions for n?
A. n
B. 2n
C. 8 + n
D. 82 + n 2
E. 16
18. What is the 211th digit after the decimal point in the repeating decimal
0.84382?
F. 9
G. 8
H. 4
J. 2
K. 0

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 APPLYING STRATEGIES, BUILDING SKILLS 83

ELEMENTARY ALGEBRA
These questions will test your knowledge of operations involving functions,
factoring simple quadratic equations, evaluating algebraic expressions using
substitution, and properties of integer exponents.

Difficulty Level: Easy

1. For all a and b, (2a - b)(a2 + b) =

A. 2a2 - b2
B. 2a3 - b2
C. 2a3 + ab - b2
D. 2a3 + 2ab - a2b2
E. 2a3 - a2b + 2ab - b2

2. The expression x2 - x - 42 can be written as the product of two binomi-

als with integer coefficients. One of the binomials is (x - 7). Which of
the following is the other binomial?
F. x2 - 6
G. x2 + 6
H. x - 6
J. x + 6
K. x + 7

3. On a recent test, some questions were worth 3 points each, and the rest were
worth 2 points each. Bailey answered correctly the same number of 3-point
questions as 2-point questions and earned a score of 80. How many 2-point
questions did she answer correctly?
A. 10
B. 13
C. 15
D. 16
E. 18
1
4. Which of the following is equivalent to 10 2 ?
F. 5
2
G. 1—
10
H. 10
J. 5
10
K. -1 × 102

5. What is the value of 4 × 2a+b when a = -2 and b = 3?

A. -8
B. 8
C. 12
D. 16
E. 24

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 84 CHAPTER 5

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. If x is a real number and 5x = 625, then 3 × 3x = ?
F. 5
G. 9
H. 45
J. 125
K. 243

7. Given f (x) = 2x2 - 3x + 6, what is the value of f (-4)?

A. 26
B. 50
C. 58
D. 76
E. 82

8. (2a - 3b)2 is equivalent to:

F. 4a2 - 12ab + 9b2
G. 4a2 - 10ab + 9b2
H. 4a2 - 9b2
J. 4a2 + 9b2
K. 4a - 6b

Difficulty Level: Hard

9. If h(x) = g(x) - f(x), where g(x) = 5x2 + 15x - 25 and f(x) = 5x2 - 6x - 11,
then h(x) is always divisible by which of the following?
A. 17
B. 9
C. 7
D. 5
E. 3

5
x3 + 1
8
10. Given f ( x ) =
1
, what is f  ?
x+ 2
4
7
F.
2
20
G.
8
36
H.
24
J. 1
30
K.
20

INTERMEDIATE ALGEBRA
These questions will test your knowledge of operations involving the quadratic
formula, radical and rational expressions, inequalities and absolute value equations,
algebraic and geometric sequences, systems of equations, logarithms, roots of
polynomials, and complex numbers.

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 APPLYING STRATEGIES, BUILDING SKILLS 85

Difficulty Level: Easy

1. The geometric mean of 2 positive numbers is the square root of the product
of the 2 numbers. What is the geometric mean of 4 and 49?
A. 9
B. 14
C. 26
D. 98
E. 196

2. If x is a real number such that x3 = 729, then x 2 + x = ?

F. 9
G. 27
H. 30
J. 84
K. 90

3. What two numbers should be placed in the blanks below so that the differ-
ence between the consecutive numbers is the same?
13, __, __, 34
A. 19, 28
B. 20, 27
C. 21, 26
D. 23, 24
E. 24, 29

4. The first 5 terms of a geometric sequence are 0.75, -3, 12, -48, and 192.
What is the 6th term?
F. -768
G. -144
H. -75
J. 132
K. 255.75

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. What is the solution set of |2a - 1| ≥ 5?
A. {a: a ≤ -4 or a ≥ 6}
B. {a: a ≤ -3 or a ≥ 3}
C. {a: a ≤ -2 or a ≥ 3}
D. {a: a ≥ 3}
E. { } (the empty set)

6. If the following system of equations has a solution, what is the x coordinate

of the solution?
x + 6y = 24
3x + 6y = 52
F. 0
G. 6
H. 14
J. 19
K. The system has no solution.

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 86 CHAPTER 5

7. For a single production run, when x items are made and sold, a company’s
profit, D dollars, can be modeled by D = x2 - 300x - 100,000. What is
the smallest number of items that must be made and sold in order for the
company not to lose money on the production run?
A. 150
B. 200
C. 300
D. 350
E. 500

Difficulty Level: Hard

8. If -4 ≤ a ≤ -3 and 2 ≤ b ≤ 5, what is the maximum value of | a - 2b|?
F. 7
G. 8
H. 13
J. 14
K. 20

9. For all positive integers n, which of the following is a correct ordering of

the terms nn, (n!)n, and (n!)n!?
A. (n!)n! ≥ nn ≥ (n!)n
B. (n!)n! ≥ (n!)n ≥ nn
C. nn ≥ (n!)n ≥ (n!)n!
D. (n!)n ≥ (n!)n! ≥ nn
E. (n!)n ≥ nn ≥ (n!)n!

10. Whenever a, b, and c are positive real numbers, which of the following
1
expressions is equivalent to 2 log3 a + log6 b − log3 c?
2
b
F. 2 log3 (a - c) + log6  
2
G. log3 (a - c) + log6 ( b )
c  b
H. log3  2  + log6  
a  2
a 2 
J. log3   + log6 ( b )
c
 a 2 b
K. log3  
c

COORDINATE GEOMETRY
These questions will test your knowledge of operations involving number line
graphs, the equation of a line, slope, and the distance and midpoint formulas.

Difficulty Level: Easy

1. Which of the following inequalities represents the graph shown below on
the real number line?

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 APPLYING STRATEGIES, BUILDING SKILLS 87

A. -4 ≤ x < 3
B. -4 ≤ x < 0
C. 0≤x<3
D. 4≤x≤4
E. 3 < x ≤ -4

2. As shown below, the diagonals of rectangle RSTU intersect at the point

(1, 4) in the standard (x, y) coordinate plane. Point R is at (-3, 2). Which
of the following are the coordinates of point T ?

F. (-3, 6)
G. (4, 5)
H. (5, 5)
J. (5, 6)
K. (7, 6)

3. What is the slope of any line parallel to the line 2x - 3y = 7?

A. -3
2
B. −
3
2
C.
3
D. 2
E. 3

4. If two lines in the standard (x, y) coordinate plane are perpendicular and the
slope of one of the lines is -5, what is the slope of the other line?
F. -5
G. -1
1
H. −
5
1
J.
5
K. 5

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 88 CHAPTER 5

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. What is the distance, in coordinate units, between the points (3, 5) and
(-4, 1) in the standard (x, y) coordinate plane?
A. 27
B. 4 2
C. 8
D. 8 2
E. 65
6. Which of the following is an equation of the line that passes through the
points (-3, 11) and (1, 5) in the standard (x, y) coordinate plane?
F. 3x + 2y = 13
G. 2x + 3y = 21
H. 2x + 2y = 16
J. x + 3y = 16
K. x + y = 6
7. The graph of the line with the equation -5y = 25 does NOT have points in
what quadrant(s) on the standard (x, y) coordinate plane below?

A. Quadrant I only
B. Quadrant II only
C. Quadrant III only
D. Quadrants I and II only
E. Quadrants II and III only

Difficulty Level: Hard

8. An angle in the standard position in the standard (x, y) coordinate plane
has its vertex at the origin and its initial side on the positive x axis. If the
measure of the angle in the standard position is 2,585°, it has the same
terminal side as an angle of each of the following measures EXCEPT:
F. -1,375°
G. -295°
H. 65°
J. 435°
K. 785°

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 APPLYING STRATEGIES, BUILDING SKILLS 89

 5
9. In the standard (x, y) coordinate plane, 4,  is halfway between (a, a + 3)
 3
and (2a, a - 5). What is the value of a?
4
A.
3
8
B.
3
C. 4
9
D.
2
E. 6

10. What is the perimeter of quadrilateral QRST if it has vertices with (x, y)
coordinates Q(0,0), R(1,3), S(4,4), and T(3,1)?
F. 100
G. 40
H. 6 2 + 2 10
J. 4 10
K. 2 10

PLANE GEOMETRY
These questions will test your knowledge of operations involving plane figures such
as circles, triangles, rectangles, parallelograms, and trapezoids; angles, parallel lines,
and perpendicular lines; perimeter, area, and volume; and simple three-dimensional
figures. Plane geometry questions make up a considerable portion of the more dif-
ficult math tested on the ACT Mathematics Test.

Difficulty Level: Easy

1. What is the volume, in cubic inches, of a cube whose edges each measure
3 inches in length?
A. 9
B. 12
C. 18
D. 27
E. 81

2. In the figure below, M, N, and O are collinear, the measure of angle MNP
is 3x°, and the measure of angle ONP is 6x°. What is the degree measure of
angle MNP?

F. 18°
G. 20°
H. 60°
J. 120°
K. 162°

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 90 CHAPTER 5

3. For the polygon below, the lengths of 2 sides are not given. Each angle
between adjacent sides measures 90°. What is the polygon’s perimeter,
in centimeters?

A. 45
B. 58
C. 87
D. 90
E. 180

4. The area of DABC below is 40 square inches. If AC is 10 inches long, how

long is the altitude BD, in inches?

F. 4
G. 6
H. 8
J. 10
K. 12

5. What is the area, in square inches, of a trapezoid with a height of 6 inches

and parallel bases of 9 inches and 7 inches, respectively?
A. 24
B. 32
C. 48
D. 96
E. 378

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. The area of a wheel is 78.5 inches. About how many revolutions does
one of these wheels make when traveling 100 feet (1,200 inches) without
slipping?
F. 12
G. 15
H. 38
J. 100
K. 942

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 APPLYING STRATEGIES, BUILDING SKILLS 91

7. The area of a rectangle is 300 inches, and its length is three times its width.
How many inches wide is the rectangle?
A. 10
B. 30
C. 50
D. 100
E. 150

8. Triangles WXY and ZXY, shown below, are isosceles with base XY. Seg-
ments XZ and YZ bisect ∠WXY and ∠WYX, respectively. Which of the
following angle congruences is necessarily true?

F. ∠WXY ≅ ∠WYZ
G. ∠WXZ ≅ ∠WYX
H. ∠WXZ ≅ ∠XYZ
J. ∠WYZ ≅ ∠XWY
K. ∠XYZ ≅ ∠XWY

9. Mandy plans to carpet the entire floor of her bedroom. The floor is flat,
and all adjacent sides meet at right angles, as shown below. Mandy can
purchase 6-foot × 8-foot pieces of carpet on sale. What is the minimum
number of pieces of carpet that she must purchase in order to carpet her
bedroom floor?

A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
E. 5

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 92 CHAPTER 5

10. Triangle ABC is similar to triangle XYZ. AB is 5 inches long, BC is 8 inches

long, and AC is 3 inches long. If the longest side of DXYZ is 20 inches
long, what is the perimeter, in inches, of DXYZ?
F. 16
G. 28
H. 40
J. 64
K. 88

Difficulty Level: Hard

11. The noncommon rays of two adjacent angles form a straight angle. The mea-
sure of one angle is 3 times the measure of the other angle. What is the measure
of the smaller angle?
A. 40°
B. 45°
C. 50°
D. 55°
E. 60°

12. A square has sides that are the same length as the radius of a circle. If
the circle has a circumference of 64p units, how many units long is the
perimeter of the square?
F. 8
G. 16
H. 32
J. 128
K. 256
13. In a certain rectangle PQRS, angle QPS and angle PSR are right angles. If
the length of line PR is 34 units and the length of line PS is 30 units, what
is the length of line RS ?
A. 30
B. 16
C. 34
D. 2 514
E. 14

14. In the figure below, lines a and b are parallel and angle measures are as
marked. If it can be determined, what is the value of x?

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 APPLYING STRATEGIES, BUILDING SKILLS 93

F. 30°
G. 40°
H. 55°
J. 70°
K. Cannot be determined from the given information.

15. Which of the following degree measures is equivalent to 3.75p radians?

A. 2,700°
B. 1,350°
C. 675°
D. 337.5°
E. 225°
32
16. The radius of a circle is centimeters. What is the area of the circle?
π
F. 64
G. 32p
1,024
H.
π
J. 1,024
K. 1,024p

TRIGONOMETRY
These questions will test your knowledge of operations involving trigonometry,
including the relationships in right triangles, the definitions of trigonometric
functions, graphing trigonometric functions, using trigonometric identities, and
solving trigonometric equations. Since trigonometry is seen by the ACT as
“higher math,” these practice questions are categorized as either medium or
hard only; they make up a very small percentage of the ACT Mathematics Test,
and will usually appear only in the latter half of the questions on your ACT Math-
ematics Test.

Difficulty Level: Medium

1. The sides of a right triangle measure 5 in, 12 in, and 13 in. What is the
cosine of the acute angle adjacent to the side that measures 12 in?
5
A.
12
5
B.
13
12
C.
13
13
D.
12
12
E.
5

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 94 CHAPTER 5

2. In the right triangle pictured below, r, s, and t are the lengths of its sides.
What is the value of tan a?

r
F.
t
s
G.
t
t
H.
r
r
J.
s
t
K.
s

3
3. If tan β = , then sin b = ?
4
3
A.
5
3
B.
4
4
C.
5
4
D.
3
5
E.
4

4. In the right triangle shown below, cos ∠A = ?

20
F.
21
20
G.
29
21
H.
29
29
J.
21
21
K.
20

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 APPLYING STRATEGIES, BUILDING SKILLS 95

Difficulty Level: Hard

(cos x )
5. For values of x where sin x, cos x, and tan x are all defined, =?
(tan x ) (sin x )
cos 2 x
A.
sin 2 x
B. tan2 x
C. 1
D. sin2 x
E. sec x

6. As shown in the figure below, a ramp leading from a loading dock is 35 feet
long and forms a 15° angle with level ground.

Given the trigonometric approximations in the table below, what is the

height above ground of the loading dock, to the nearest 0.1 foot?

F. 9.4
G. 9.1
H. 7.7
J. 7.4
K. 2.8

tan α
7. Whenever is defined, it is equivalent to:
sin α
A. cos a
1
B.
cos α
1
C.
sin α
1
D.
sin 2 α
cos α
E.
sin α

MATRICES AND VECTORS

These questions will test your knowledge of operations involving matrices and
vectors. Matrices and vectors are considered complex concepts, so these practice
questions will be categorized as hard only. These questions make up a very small

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 96 CHAPTER 5

percentage of the ACT Mathematics Test and will usually appear only in the latter
half of the questions on your test.
1. The table below shows the numbers of rows and columns in each of four
matrices.

Matrix Number of Rows Number of Columns

F a c
G b d
H c b
J d a

For distinct values a, b, and c, which of the following matrix products is

NOT possible?
A. FH
B. GJ
C. HG
D. FJ
E. JF

2. What is the magnitude of the vector shown below?

3
F. 1
G. 3
H. 4
J. 5
K. 7

15 2
3. What is the determinant of the matrix  ?

 5 8
A. 120
B. 110
C. 65
D. 30
E. 24

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