SAT Math: Algebra and Advanced Math
These two domains are about 16 of the 22 questions in every Math module. If your math time is limited, this is where it goes: nothing else on the test repays practice at the same rate.
Read what the question wants
A large share of missed algebra questions are solved correctly and then answered wrong: the work finds x and the question asked for 3x, or for the value of the expression rather than of the variable. Underline the thing being asked for before you start.
The calculator is available the whole time
There is a graphing calculator built into the test app, on every math question. A system of two equations is a pair of curves and their crossing point; the zeros of a quadratic are where its graph meets the x-axis. Graphing is not cheating and it is often faster than the algebra.
It is not always faster, though. Typing a messy expression takes longer than factoring a tidy one, so learn which questions you reach for it on rather than reaching every time.
When the algebra gets long, use the choices
On a multiple-choice question the answer is on the screen. Substituting the choices back into the original equation - starting from the middle - is a legitimate method and sometimes the fastest one. On a type-in question there are no choices to lean on, which is worth knowing before you meet one.
Algebra
About 8 of the 22 questions in each Math module
Straight lines, in every form the test asks about them.
- Linear equations in one variable
- Solve for the variable, including equations with fractions or with an unknown constant.
- Linear functions
- A constant rate and a starting value, usually wrapped in a real situation.
- Linear equations in two variables
- Slope, intercepts, parallel and perpendicular lines, and points on a line in the xy-plane.
- Systems of two linear equations
- Two lines at once - solve by substitution, elimination or by graphing them.
- Linear inequalities
- The same algebra with a range of answers, and the sign that flips when you divide by a negative.
Advanced math
About 8 of the 22 questions in each Math module
Everything that is not a straight line.
- Equivalent expressions
- Rewriting an expression in a different form - expanding, factoring, exponent rules, completing the square.
- Nonlinear equations and systems
- Quadratics and higher, solved by factoring, by formula, or as an intersection.
- Nonlinear functions
- Parabolas and exponential growth and decay - vertex, zeros, and what each number in the formula controls.
What helps
Know the three forms of a quadratic
Standard form hands you the y-intercept, factored form hands you the zeros, and vertex form hands you the minimum or maximum. Most questions are asking which form you can get to.
A type-in answer must fit five characters
Give the simplest exact form - a fraction is fine, a rounded decimal often is not. Do not write units, commas or a percent sign.
Check the sign before you check the arithmetic
On the questions people miss, the most common single error is a sign, not a calculation.
Try it yourself
Pick an answer and check it. Nothing is saved, and you do not need an account.
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Practice the rest of it
Every page here ends with two or three questions. The app has hundreds more, sorted by skill, with a full-length test that adapts the way the real one does.
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