Problem Solving and Data Analysis
Problem Solving and Data Analysis
Q1.
Building A is 140 feet tall, and Building B is 85 feet tall. The ratio of the heights of Building A to Building B is
equal to the ratio of the heights of Building C to Building D. If Building C is 90 feet tall, what is the height of
Building D to the nearest foot?
A. 35 B. 55 C. 85 D. 148
Q2.
7 pounds of plums make 8 rolls of fruit leather. If every batch of fruit leather requires the same amount of
plums, how many pounds of plums are required to make 20 rolls of fruit leather?
A. 0.875 pounds B. 2.5 pounds C. 17.5 pounds D. 23 pounds
Q3.
Erika plans to purchase seed to plant grass in a large field. She has a map of the region, and calculates the area
2
of the region on paper to be 180 𝑐𝑚 . The scale of the map shows that 1 cm = 20 ft. If Erika plans to cover
2
every 400 𝑓𝑡 with one pound of seed, approximately how many pounds of seed will she need to cover the
entire field?
A. 9 pounds B. 18 pounds C. 90 pounds D. 180 pounds
Q4.
If the cost of a 6-minute telephone call is $1.20, then at this rate, what is the cost of a 15-minute call?
A. $2.00 B. $3.00 C. $3.25 D. $3.75
Q5.
In 5 years the ratio of Julie’s age to Song’s age will be 3:5. In 10 years the ratio of Julie’s age to Song’s age will
be 2:3. What is the sum of their current age?
A. 15 B. 20 C. 30 D. 35
Q6.
𝑎 7
If 𝑎 is divisible by 2, 𝑏 is divisible by 5, and 𝑏
= 9
, where 𝑎 and 𝑏 are positive numbers, and 𝑎 + 𝑏 < 400,
what is one possible value of 𝑎 + 𝑏? 320
Q7.
A cafeteria with 40 tables can seat 600 people. Some tables can seat 10 people and some can seat 20 people.
What is the ratio of the number of 10-person tables to the number of 20-person tables?
A. 2:1 B. 1:2 C. 1:1 D. 1:4
Q8.
Two cars were traveling 630 miles. Car A traveled an average speed of 70 miles per hour. If car B traveled 90
miles an hour, how many miles had car A traveled when car B arrived at the destination?
490
Q9.
A particular ball always bounces back to 2/5 of the height of its previous bounce after being dropped. After the
first bounce it reaches a height of 175 inches. Approximately how high (in inches) will it reach after its fifth
bounce?
A. 11.2 B. 20 C. 4.5 D. 14
Q10.
The first term in a sequence is m. If every term thereafter is 5 greater than 1/10 of the preceding term, and m≠0,
what is the ratio of the second term to the first term?
𝑚+10 𝑚+5 𝑚+50 𝑚+10
A. 50𝑚
B. 10
C. 10𝑚
D. 5
1.2. Percentages
𝑝
- Percent means parts per hundred: 𝑝% = 100
- When calculating a percent change from an initial value to a final value:
1. Find the difference between the initial and final value
2. Divide the difference by the initial value
3. Convert the resulting decimal to a percentage
𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒
𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 = 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙
× 100%
Q1.
13 is 𝑝% of 25. What is the value of 𝑝? 52
Q2.
What percentage of 300 is 75?
A. 25% B. 50% C. 75% D. 225%
Q3.
A business owner plans to purchase the same period model of chair for each of the 81 employees. The total
budget to spend on these chairs is $14,000, which includes a 7% sales tax. Which of the following is closest to
the maximum possible price per chair, before sales tax, the business owner could pay based on this budget?
A. $148.15 B. $161.53 C. $172.84 D. $184.94
Q4.
Year Subscriptions sold
2012 5,600
2013 5,880
The manager of an online news service received the report above on the number of subscriptions sold by the
service. The manager estimated that the percent increase from 2012 to 2013 would be double the percent
increase from 2013 to 2014. How many subscriptions did the manager expect would be sold in 2014?
A. 6,020 B. 6,027 C. 6,440 D. 6,468
Q5.
The price of a music CD was first increased by 15% and then the new price was decreased by 30%. Which of
the following is true about the price after these two changes?
A. The price decreases by 15% C. The price decreases by 35%
B. The price decreases by 19.5% D. The price decreases by 45%
Q6.
If the price of a stock rises by 6 percent one day and falls by 5 percent the next day, what was the change in the
price of the stock after these two days?
A. The price rose by 0.5% C. The price rose by 1%
B. The price rose by 0.7% D. The price rose by 1.5%
Q7.
If 20% of 30% of a positive number is equal to 10% of k% of the same number, what is the value of k?
Q8. 60
𝑎
If 2𝑎 + 3𝑏 is equal to 250 percent of 6𝑏, what is the value of 𝑏
?
6
Q9.
If 25 percent of 𝑚 is 50, what is 15 percent of 2𝑚?
A. 80 B. 60 C. 50 D. 40
Q10.
The percent increase from 5 to 12 is equal to the percent increase from 12 to what number?
A. 16.8 B. 19.0 C. 26.6 D. 28.8
Q1.
A certain park has an area of 11,863,808 square yards. What is the area, in square miles of, of this park? (1 mile
= 1,760 yards)
A. 1.96 B. 3.83 C. 3,444.39 D. 6,740.8
Q2.
A landscape supply company sells mulch at a rate of $30 per cubic yard. What price does the company charge
for 54 cubic feet of mulch? (1 yard = 3 feet)
A. $54 B. $60 C. $810 D. $1,620
Q3.
33 miles per gallon is approximately equal to how many kilometers per litre (Use 1 kilometer = 0.62 mile and 1
gallon = 3.79 liters)
A. 5 B. 14 C. 78 D. 202
2. Linear and exponential relationship
Using 𝑦 = 𝑎𝑥 + 𝑏 to represent a linear equation 𝑥
Using 𝑦 = 𝑎(𝑏) to represent an exponential
equation
- 𝑎 is the number repeatedly added, the rate of
change, or the slope of the line when the equation is - 𝑏 is the number repeatedly multiplied, or the
graphed in the 𝑥𝑦-plane common factor or common ratio
- 𝑏 is the initial value, or the 𝑦-intercept of the line - 𝑎 is the initial value, or the 𝑦-intercept of the curve
when the equation is graphed in the 𝑥𝑦-plane when the equation is graphed in the 𝑥𝑦-plane
𝑥
The exponential function 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑎 (𝑎 > 0, 𝑎 ≠ 1) has domain 𝑅 and range (0, ∞).
The line 𝑦 = 0 (the 𝑥-axis) is a horizontal asymptote of 𝑓. The graph 𝑓 has one of the following shapes.
Q1.
𝑥 1 2 3 4 5
𝑦 11 25 39 53 67
4 4 4 4 4
Which of the following equations relates 𝑦 to 𝑥 for the values in the table above?
1 5 𝑥 C. 𝑦 =
3
𝑥+ 2
A. 𝑦 = 2
.(2) 4
7 3
3 𝑥 D. 𝑦 = 𝑥−
B. 𝑦 = 2. ( 4 ) 2 4
Q2.
𝑥 1 2 3 4 5
𝑦 5 10 20 40 80
Which of the following equations relates 𝑦 to 𝑥 for the values in the table above?
A. 𝑦 = 2𝑥 + 3 C. 𝑦 =
15
𝑥−
5
2 2
5 𝑥
B. 𝑦 = .2 𝑥
2 D. 𝑦 = 5
Q3.
An airplane descends from an altitude of 9,500 feet to 5,000 feet at a constant rate of 400 feet per minute. What
type of function best models the relationship between the descending airplane’s altitude and time?
A. Decreasing exponential C. Increasing exponential
B. Decreasing linear D. Increasing linear
Q4.
Each year, the value of an investment increases by 0.49% of its value the previous year. Which of the following
functions best models how the value of the investment changes over time?
A. Decreasing exponential C. Increasing exponential
B. Decreasing linear D. Increasing linear
Q5.
For the function 𝑞, the value of 𝑞(𝑥) decreases by 45% for every increase in the value of 𝑥 by 1. If 𝑞(0) = 14,
which equation defines 𝑞?
𝑥 𝑥
A. 𝑞(𝑥) = 0. 55(14) C. 𝑞(𝑥) = 14(0. 55)
𝑥 𝑥
B. 𝑞(𝑥) = 1. 45(14) D. 𝑞(𝑥) = 14(1. 45)
Q6.
Time (years) Total amount (dollars)
0 604.00
1 606.42
2 608.84
Rosa opened a savings account at a bank. The table shows the exponential relationship between the time 𝑡, in
years, since Rosa opened the account and the total amount 𝑛, in dollars, in the account. If Rosa made no
additional deposits or withdrawals, which of the following equations best represents the relationship between 𝑡
and 𝑛?
𝑡 𝑡
A. 𝑛 = (1 + 604) C. 𝑛 = 604(1 + 0. 004)
𝑡 𝑡
B. 𝑛 = (1 + 0. 004) D. 𝑛 = 0. 004(1 + 604)
Q7.
The number of bacteria in a liquid medium doubles every day. There are 44,000 bacteria in the liquid medium at
the start of an observation. Which represents the number of bacteria, 𝑦, in the liquid medium 𝑡 days after the
start of the observation?
1 𝑡 1 𝑡
A. 𝑦 = 2
(44, 000) C. 𝑦 = 44, 000( 2 )
𝑡 𝑡
B. 𝑦 = 2(44, 000) D. 𝑦 = 44, 000(2)
Q8.
A model predicts that the population of springfield was 15,000 in 2005. The model also predicts that each year
for the next 5 years, the population 𝑝 increased by 4% of the previous year’s population. Which equation best
represents this model, where 𝑥 is the number of years after 2005, for 𝑡 ≤ 5?
𝑡 𝑡
A. 𝑝 = 0. 96(15, 000) C. 𝑝 = 15, 000(0. 96)
𝑡 𝑡
B. 𝑝 = 1. 04(15, 000) D. 𝑝 = 15, 000(1. 04)
Q9.
A biologist grows a culture of bacteria as part of an experiment. At the start of the experiment, there were 75
bacteria in the culture. The biologist observes that the population of bacteria doubles every 18 minutes. Which
of the following equations best models the number, 𝑛, of bacteria 𝑡 hours after the start of the experiment?
𝑡 10𝑡
A. 𝑛 = 75(2) 18
C. 𝑛 = 75(2) 3
𝑡 10𝑡
B. 𝑛 = 75(1 + 18
) D. 𝑛 = 75(1 + 3
)
Q10.
A photocopy machine is initially loaded with 5,000 sheets of paper. The machine starts a large job and copies at
a constant rate. After 20 minutes, it has used 30% of the paper. Which of the following equations models the
number of sheets of paper, 𝑝, remaining in the machine 𝑚 minutes after the machine started printing?
A. 𝑝 = 5, 000 − 20𝑚 𝑚
𝑚 C. 𝑝 = 5, 000(0. 3) 20
Q11.
𝑡
The function 𝑓(𝑡) = 60, 000(2) 410 gives the number of bacteria in a population 𝑡 minutes after an initial
observation. How much time, in minutes, does it take for the number of bacteria in the population to double?
Q12. 410
𝑡
3
𝑃 = 215(1. 005)
The equation above can be used to model the population, in thousands, of a certain city 𝑡 years after 2000.
According to the model, the population is predicted to increase by 0.5% every 𝑛 months. What is the value of n?
A. 3 C. 12
B. 4 D. 36
Q13.
A scientist initially measures 12,000 bacteria in a growth medium. Four hours later, the scientist measures
𝑟𝑡
24,000 bacteria. Assuming exponential growth, the formula 𝑝 = 𝐶(2) gives the number of bacteria in the
growth medium, where 𝑟 and 𝐶 are constants, and 𝑝 is the number of bacteria t hours after the initial
measurement. What is the value of 𝑟?
1 1
A. 12,000
C. 4
B. 4 D. 12,000
Q14.
𝑥
12
𝑓(𝑥) = 5, 470(0. 64)
The function 𝑓 gives the value, in dollars, of a certain piece of equipment after 𝑥 months of use. If the value of
the equipment decreases each year by 𝑝% of its value the preceding year, the is the value of 𝑝?
36
Q15.
A bank has opened a new branch and, as part of a promotion, the bank branch is offering 1,000 dollars
certificates of deposit at an interest rate of 4% per year, compounded semiannually. The bank is selling
certificates with terms of 1,2,3, or 4 years. Which of the following functions gives the total amount, 𝐴, in
dollars, a customer will receive when a certificate with a term of 𝑘 years is finally paid?
A. 𝐴 = 1, 000(1 + 0. 04𝑘) C. 𝐴 = 1, 000(1 + 0. 08𝑘)
𝑘 2𝑘
B. 𝐴 = 1, 000(1. 04) D. 𝐴 = 1, 000(1. 02)
3. Probabilities and conditional probabilities
3.1 Probabilities
- Multiplication rule for Independent Events (two events do not affect each other)
𝑃(𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐵) = 𝑃(𝐴). 𝑃(𝐵)
Example: In a deck of 52 cards, what is the probability of selecting a king and a queen, in that order, from the
deck with replacement?
4 4 1
𝑃(𝐾 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑄) = 𝑃(𝐾). 𝑃(𝑄) = 52 . 52 = 169
- Either/Or Probability:
Example:
Attended concert Did not attend concert Total
Total 40 24 64
● What fraction of Dr. Romelle’s class did not attend the concert?
● What percent of students from both classes attended the concert? 14/31; 40/64; 23/64
● If a student from both classes is selected at random, what is the probability that that student is from Dr.
Yukevich’s class and attended the concert?
Q1.
The table summarizes the distribution of color and shape for 100 tiles of equal area
Red Blue Yellow Total
Square 10 20 25 55
Pentagon 20 10 15 45
Total 30 30 40 100
If one of these tiles is selected at random, what is the probability of selecting a red tile? (Express your answer as
a decimal or fraction, not as a percent.)
0.3
Q2.
Great Britain United States Other nations Total
Gold 56 23 31 110
Silver 51 12 44 107
Bronze 39 12 56 107
Total 64
3
If 4
of the students in the two classes play an instrument, how many students in Dr. Yukevich’s class play an
instrument? 28
Q4.
The three cards shown above were taken from a box of ten cards, each with a different integer on it from 1 to
10. What is the probability that the next two cards selected from the box will have both even integers on it?
10 4
A. 21
C. 7
12 5
B. 23
D. 7
Q5.
In a box, there are 𝑏 blue marbles and 𝑔 green marbles. If a person selects two marbles, what is the probability
that both marbles are blue?
𝑏 𝑏×𝑏
A. 𝑏+𝑔
C. (𝑏+𝑔)(𝑏+𝑔−1)
𝑏 𝑏(𝑏−1)
B. 𝑏+𝑔+1
D. (𝑏+𝑔)(𝑏+𝑔−1)
Q6.
A six-sided die is rolled twice. What is the probability that the first roll will land on an odd number, and the
second roll will land on an even number?
0.25
Q7.
You went to order a cake but all of the cakes are in identical boxes. If there are five chocolate cakes, four carrot
cakes, three vanilla cakes, and six red velvet cakes, what is the maximum number of boxes that you would have
to open to ensure that you have one of each type of cake?
A. 16 C. 9
B. 4 D. 12
Q8.
A popular word game has 100 square tiles. Each is marked with a letter or a blank; the
distribution of the letters is seen in the table aside. Note that two of the tiles are blanks.
Two letters are drawn at random from the set of tiles. What is the probability that both tiles
will be marked with a letter from the first half of the alphabet?
689 1
A. 2,475
C. 4
6 2,809
B. 25
D. 10,000
3.2. Conditional probabilities
Multiplication rule for Dependent Events (the second event is affected by the first event)
- 𝑃(𝐴/𝐵) means Event A happens on the condition that Event B happened
𝑃(𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐵)
- 𝑃(𝐴/𝐵) = 𝑃(𝐵)
⇒ 𝑃(𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐵) = 𝑃(𝐵). 𝑃(𝐴/𝐵) = 𝑃(𝐴). (𝐵/𝐴)
Example: In a deck of 52 cards, what is the probability of selecting a king and a queen, in that order, from the
deck without replacement?
4 4 4
𝑃(𝐾 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑄) = 𝑃(𝐾). 𝑃(𝑄/𝐾) = 52 . 51 = 663
- You can identify conditional probability questions because they will say "given" or some other word or
phrase to indicate that there is some precondition being met ("provided that," "assuming," etc.).
Q1.
Number of contestants by Score and Day
5 out of 5 4 out of 5 3 out of 5 2 out of 5 1 out of 5 0 out of 5 Total
Day 1 2 3 4 6 2 3 20
Day 2 2 3 5 5 4 1 20
Day 3 3 3 4 5 3 2 20
Total 7 9 13 16 9 6 60
The same 20 contestants, on each of 3 days, answered 5 questions in order to win a prize. Each contestant
received 1 point for each correct answer. The number of contestants receiving a given score on each day is
shown in the table above.
No contestant received the same score on two different days. If a contestant is selected at random, what is the
probability that the selected contestant received a score of 5 on Day 2 or Day 3, given that the contestant
received a score of 5 on one of the three days?
5/7
Q2.
The table summarizes the distribution of age and assigned group for 90 participants in a study
0 - 9 years 10 - 19 years 20+ years Total
Group A 7 14 9 30
Group B 6 4 20 30
Group C 17 12 1 30
Total 30 30 30 90
One of these participants will be selected at random. What is the probability of selecting a participant from
group A, given that the participant is at least 10 years of age? (Express your answer as a decimal or fraction)
Q3. 23/60
The table below shows the distribution of 44 basketball players and their positions in the baseball club. Each
player is categorized in one position
If one of the 44 players is selected at random, the probability of selecting a player who is categorized as an
infielder, given that that player is not categorized as a pitcher, is 1/11
How many of these players are categorized as an outfielder?
Position Frequency
Pitcher 22
Catcher 2
Infielder or outfielder 20
A. 44 B. 16 C. 18 D. 20
Q4.
There are 100 people working on a performance: 52 dancers, 12 stage technicians, and 36 musicians. Among
the dancers, 14 are ballet dancers, 20 are jazz dancers, and 18 are modern dancers.
What is the probability of selecting a ballet dancer from those working on the performance, given that the
person selected is a dancer?
14/52 or 7/26
Q5.
Advertising during a Three-Hour Television Program
The table above shows the total number of television advertisements that appeared during a 3-hour television
program, by type and length of advertisement.
If a food or beverage advertisement that appeared during the 3-hour television program is chosen at random,
what is the probability that the length of the advertisement is 60 seconds?
9 9
A. 25
C. 100
9 25
B. 43
D. 100