100

MATH
TIPS
FOR THE

SAT
*

AND HOW TO MASTER THEM NOW!

Charles Gulotta
Illustrated by Trish Dardine

*SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board, which does not endorse this product.
Copyright © 2009, 2005, 2002, 2000, 1999, 1998, and 1996
by Charles Gulotta. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.

There’s no point in saying, “No portion of this book may be reproduced in

any form without written permission of the author.” If you want to reproduce
portions of the book, this little warning isn’t going to stop you. However, I
think you should keep in mind that it’s really hard to get a good copy from a
book. Some of the pages will come out slanty, and the words near the middle
will be distorted, and the pictures will be too dark. But the worst thing is,
everyone will know you were too cheap to buy your own book. All in all,
it’s just not worth it.

This is a seventh edition.

ISBN-13: 978-0-96532-634-6
ISBN-10: 0-9653263-4-9
Contents
Introduction:
Next page

The 100 Questions & Tips:

Multiple-Choice, 1-90
Student-Produced Response, 91-100

More Practice Questions:

In the back

Glossary:
After “More Practice Questions”

Index:
Way in the back

Dedication
This book is dedicated to anyone who’s ever experienced
math anxiety, SAT panic, or some combination of the two.
It’s also dedicated to anyone who’s ever been pushed around
by a bully or held back by self-doubt. You’re stronger than
any of those things. And, yes, you can even do percents.
Tip #1
Make sure you understand what you’re being told.

Question:
Circle A has a diameter of x, while circle B has a radius
of 2x. Which of the following MUST be true?

I. Area of circle A = area of circle B

II. Circumference of circle A = circumference of circle B
III. Both circles contain 360˚

(A) I only (B) II only (C) III only

(D) I and III only (E) I, II, and III

Solution:
This is typical SAT sleight of hand. If you were fooled by this question, it’s because your brain
went into automatic pilot, and because you’re a trusting person. You’ll need to stop doing both.

When we see “diameter of x” and “radius of 2x,” we tend to remind ourselves that diameter is
twice the radius and assume these two circles are equal in size. But if we just do a quick sketch,
we see how wrong we are:

Once we’ve snapped out of auto-pilot, we

see that if one circle has a diameter that’s
half the radius of the other, the first circle
x has to be much smaller. The question is,
2x
did we snap out of it in time?
Circle A
All circles, regardless of size, contain
exactly 360 degrees. Answer is C.

Circle B

Did you
The diagram wasn’t given with the question, because the trap is in the
words and the picture they’re likely to create in your head. Watch out for
notice? questions that go to a lot of trouble to describe something that could have
been easily shown; they’re probably hiding something.
Tip #2
Make sure you understand what you’re being asked.

Question:
How many integers greater than 25 and less than 45 are each
the product of three different prime numbers?

(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4 (E) None

Solution:
This would be considered a hard question, although once you translate it, you’ll
see that it isn’t hard at all. There are nineteen integers greater than 25 and less than
45. The question is asking, how many of those nineteen can be expressed as the
product of three different prime numbers?
If you’re not clear on what a prime number is, go to the Glossary in the back of
this book. And remember: the number 1 is not prime.

You could check the nineteen integers, one at a time, searching for three
different prime factors for each. But that would use up some critical minutes. Here’s
a better way.
The integers from 26 to 44 are not large numbers. When dealing with three
factors, you quickly pass the upper limit. For example, 4 x 4 x 4 is 64, which is
already too big. (I know 4 isn’t prime -- I’m just trying to show that the numbers we
need to look at are small. Let’s start with the smallest primes.)

The smallest trio of different prime factors would be 2, 3, and 5. What’s

their product?
2 x 3 x 5 = 30. So 30 fits the description: it’s greater than 25, less than 45, and is
the product of three different prime numbers. Let’s check a few more:
2 x 3 x 7 = 42. That also meets the requirements.
2 x 3 x 9 = 54. Too big.
2 x 5 x 7 = 70. Also too big. Obviously all other groups of three primes will give
us products that are greater than 45. We found two: 30 and 42. The answer is B.

Did you Vocabulary is important in math. If you were fuzzy on what the terms
integer, product, and prime number mean, this question would give you
notice? more trouble -- and cause you to spend more time -- than it deserves.
Tip #3
Make sure you answer the same question they’re asking.

Question: E

y˚ y˚
In 6PEI, what is the value of y?
(A) 30 (B) 40 (C) 50
(D) 100 (E) 180
45˚ 35˚
P I

Solution:
This is a classic SAT question, for a couple of reasons. First of all, it tests one of the
basic concepts of geometry, namely that all triangles, no matter which corner of the
universe you’re standing in, have three angles that add up to 180 degrees. (The only time
this changes is when you happen to be traveling at close to the speed of light, because then
light bends, you can see around corners, and your mass approaches infinity. What I usually
find, though, when my mass approaches infinity is that I need to get out in a hurry and buy
some new pants and the SAT becomes relatively unimportant.)
Where were we? Oh yeah, triangles. The angles add up to 180. And there are three of
them. This means that when you know two of the angles, you can always figure out the
third one. All you have to do is add the two you know and subtract the result from 180.
What you have left is the measure of the third angle.
In the problem you’re patiently waiting to solve, the two known angles are 45 and 35
degrees. Their sum is 80 degrees. That means the third angle equals 100. So the answer
must be D, right?

Not so fast!
What are they asking you? Do they want the measure of the third angle? No, they
want you to solve for y. Since the third angle equals 2y (or y + y), we have to cut our
answer in half to know what y equals. The answer is not 100, which is what they’re
hoping you’ll think, but rather 50, which is what I’m hoping you’ll think.
The correct answer is C.

Did you Your natural tendency here is to solve for the third angle; that’s what your
math teacher always asked for. But this is the SAT, and many of the traps
notice? are designed around those tendencies. Be careful. If they want x, solve
for x. If they want the largest angle, give them the largest angle. And so on.