Question ID 8a6de407

Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Linear functions

ID: 8a6de407

The function f is defined by , where m and b are constants. If

and , what is the value of m ?

ID: 8a6de407 Answer

Rationale
The correct answer is 2. The slope-intercept form of an equation for a line is , where m is the slope and b is
the y-coordinate of the y-intercept. Two ordered pairs, and , can be used to compute the slope using the

formula . It’s given that and ; therefore, the two ordered pairs for this line are

and . Substituting these values for and gives , or 2.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID bbf9e5ce
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Linear functions

ID: bbf9e5ce

For groups of or more people, a museum charges per person for the first people and for each additional
person. Which function gives the total charge, in dollars, for a tour group with people, where ?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: bbf9e5ce Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale
Choice A is correct. A tour group with people, where , can be split into two subgroups: the first people and
the additional people. Since the museum charges per person for the first people and for each
additional person, the charge for the first people is and the charge for the additional people is
. Therefore, the total charge, in dollars, is given by the function , or
.

Choice B is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors.

Choice C is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors.

Choice D is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 41fdc0b8
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Linear functions

ID: 41fdc0b8

The table above shows the population of Greenleaf, Idaho, for the years 2000 and 2010. If the relationship between
population and year is linear, which of the following functions P models the population of Greenleaf t years after 2000?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: 41fdc0b8 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale
Choice A is correct. It is given that the relationship between population and year is linear; therefore, the function that
models the population t years after 2000 is of the form , where m is the slope and b is the population when
. In the year 2000, . Therefore, . The slope is given by

. Therefore, , which is equivalent to the

equation in choice A.

Choice B is incorrect and may be the result of incorrectly calculating the slope as just the change in the value of P. Choice
C is incorrect and may be the result of the same error as in choice B, in addition to incorrectly using t to represent the
year, instead of the number of years after 2000. Choice D is incorrect and may be the result of incorrectly using t to
represent the year instead of the number of years after 2000.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID 8c515062
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Linear equations in

one variable

ID: 8c515062

A candle is made of ounces of wax. When the candle is burning, the amount of wax in the candle decreases by
ounce every hours. If ounces of wax remain in this candle, for how many hours has it been burning?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: 8c515062 Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale
Choice D is correct. It’s given that the candle starts with ounces of wax and has ounces of wax remaining after a
period of time has passed. The amount of wax the candle has lost during the time period can be found by subtracting the
remaining amount of wax from the amount of wax the candle was made of, which yields ounces, or ounces.
This means the candle loses ounces of wax during that period of time. It’s given that the amount of wax decreases by
ounce every hours. If represents the number of hours the candle has been burning, it follows that .
Multiplying both sides of this equation by yields . Therefore, the candle has been burning for hours.

Choice A is incorrect and may result from using the equation rather than to represent the situation,
and then rounding to the nearest whole number.

Choice B is incorrect. This is the amount of wax, in ounces, remaining in the candle, not the number of hours it has been
burning.

Choice C is incorrect and may result from using the equation rather than to represent the situation.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID 038d87d7
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Linear equations in

two variables

ID: 038d87d7

A neighborhood consists of a -hectare park and a -hectare residential area. The total number of trees in the
neighborhood is . The equation represents this situation. Which of the following is the best
interpretation of x in this context?

A. The average number of trees per hectare in the park

B. The average number of trees per hectare in the residential area

C. The total number of trees in the park

D. The total number of trees in the residential area

ID: 038d87d7 Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale
Choice A is correct. It's given that a neighborhood consists of a -hectare park and a -hectare residential area and that
the total number of trees in the neighborhood is . It's also given that the equation represents
this situation. Since the total number of trees for a given area can be determined by taking the number of hectares times
the average number of trees per hectare, this must mean that the terms and correspond to the number of trees in
the park and in the residential area, respectively. Since corresponds to the number of trees in the park, and is the
size of the park, in hectares, must represent the average number of trees per hectare in the park.

Choice B is incorrect and may result from conceptual errors. Choice C is incorrect and may result from conceptual errors.

Choice D is incorrect and may result from conceptual errors.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID a1fd2304
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Linear equations in

two variables

ID: a1fd2304

How many liters of a 25% saline solution must be added to 3 liters of a 10%
saline solution to obtain a 15% saline solution?

ID: a1fd2304 Answer

Rationale
The correct answer is 1.5. The total amount, in liters, of a saline solution can be expressed as the liters of each type of
saline solution multiplied by the percent concentration of the saline solution. This gives , , and
, where x is the amount, in liters, of 25% saline solution and 10%, 15%, and 25% are represented as 0.10,

0.15, and 0.25, respectively. Thus, the equation must be true. Multiplying 3 by 0.10 and
distributing 0.15 to yields . Subtracting 0.15x and 0.30 from each side of the
equation gives . Dividing each side of the equation by 0.10 yields . Note that 1.5 and 3/2 are
examples of ways to enter a correct answer.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 36ab4122
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Linear equations in

one variable

ID: 36ab4122

Megan’s regular wage at her job is p dollars per hour for the first 8 hours of work
in a day plus 1.5 times her regular hourly wage for work in excess of 8 hours that
day. On a given day, Megan worked for 10 hours, and her total earnings for that
day were $137.50. What is Megan’s regular hourly wage?

A. $11.75

B. $12.50

C. $13.25

D. $13.75

ID: 36ab4122 Answer

Rationale
Choice B is correct. Since p represents Megan’s regular pay per hour, 1.5p represents the pay per hour in excess of 8
hours. Since Megan worked for 10 hours, she must have been paid p dollars per hour for 8 of the hours plus 1.5p dollars
per hour for the remaining 2 hours. Therefore, since Megan earned $137.50 for the 10 hours, the situation can be
represented by the equation 137.5 = 8p + 2(1.5)p. Distributing the 2 in the equation gives 137.5 = 8p + 3p, and combining
like terms gives 137.5 = 11p. Dividing both sides by 11 gives p = 12.5. Therefore, Megan’s regular wage is $12.50.

Choices A and C are incorrect and may be the result of calculation errors. Choice D is incorrect and may result from
finding the average hourly wage that Megan earned for the 10 hours of work.

Question Difficulty: Medium

Question ID 3f8a701b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Linear equations in

one variable

ID: 3f8a701b

The equation , where a and b are constants, has no solutions.

Which of the following must be true? I. II. III.

A. None

B. I only

C. I and II only

D. I and III only

ID: 3f8a701b Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale
Choice D is correct. For a linear equation in a form to have no solutions, the x-terms must have equal
coefficients and the remaining terms must not be equal. Expanding the right-hand side of the given equation yields
. Inspecting the x-terms, 9 must equal a, so statement I must be true. Inspecting the remaining terms, 5

can’t equal . Dividing both of these quantities by 9 yields that b can’t equal . Therefore, statement III must be true.

Since b can have any value other than , statement II may or may not be true.

Choice A is incorrect. For the given equation to have no solution, both and must be true. Choice B is

incorrect because it must also be true that . Choice C is incorrect because when , there are many values of b
that lead to an equation having no solution. That is, b might be 5, but b isn’t required to be 5.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 023c0a8d
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Linear functions

ID: 023c0a8d

For the function f, if for all values of x,

what is the value of ?

A.

B.

C. 0

D. 2

ID: 023c0a8d Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale
Choice B is correct. It’s given that for all values of x. If , then will equal . Dividing both

sides of by 3 gives . Therefore, substituting 2 for x in the given equation yields , which can
be rewritten as .

Choice A is incorrect. This is the value of the constant in the given equation for f. Choice C is incorrect and may result
from substituting , rather than , into the given equation. Choice D is incorrect. This is the value of x that yields
for the left-hand side of the given equation; it’s not the value of .

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 2d54c272
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Linear equations in

two variables

ID: 2d54c272

At a school fair, students can win colored tokens that are worth a different number of points depending on the color. One
student won green tokens and red tokens worth a total of points. The given equation represents this situation.
How many more points is a red token worth than a green token?

ID: 2d54c272 Answer

Correct Answer: 40

Rationale
The correct answer is . It's given that , where is the number of green tokens and is the number
of red tokens won by one student and these tokens are worth a total of points. Since the equation represents the
situation where the student won points with green tokens and red tokens for a total of points, each term on the left-
hand side of the equation represents the number of points won for one of the colors. Since the coefficient of in the
given equation is , a green token must be worth points. Similarly, since the coefficient of in the given equation is ,
a red token must be worth points. Therefore, a red token is worth points, or points, more than a green
token.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 830120b0
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Linear inequalities in

one or two variables

ID: 830120b0

Which of the following consists of the y-coordinates of all the points that
satisfy the system of inequalities above?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: 830120b0 Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale
Choice B is correct. Subtracting the same number from each side of an inequality gives an equivalent inequality. Hence,
subtracting 1 from each side of the inequality gives . So the given system of inequalities is equivalent
to the system of inequalities and , which can be rewritten as . Using the transitive
property of inequalities, it follows that .

Choice A is incorrect because there are points with a y-coordinate less than 6 that satisfy the given system of
inequalities. For example, satisfies both inequalities. Choice C is incorrect. This may result from solving the
inequality for x, then replacing x with y. Choice D is incorrect because this inequality allows y-values that are not

the y-coordinate of any point that satisfies both inequalities. For example, is contained in the set ; however,

if 2 is substituted into the first inequality for y, the result is . This cannot be true because the second inequality

gives .

Question Difficulty: Hard