ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS: PROBLEM SET 2

Easy
1. D

The question asks for the amount of ice cream eaten by each person at a party. There are

variables in the answer choices, so plug in 20 for x. If 10 people eat 20 quarts, and they all

eat the same amount, then each person eats 2 quarts. Put a circle around 2. Go to the

answers and remember that x = 20. Choice (A) = 10 × 20 = 200. Nope. Choice (B) = 5 ×

20 = 100. Nope. Choice (C) = = 4. Nope. Choice (D) = = 2. Yep. The correct answer

is (D).

2. C

The question asks for the meaning of 252 in the equation. Go through each choice one at
a time. Choice (A) says that Addison reads 252 pages per day. To determine the number
of pages he reads per day, plug in d = 1 and d = 2 and look at the difference in n. If d = 1,
then n = 252 – 47(1) = 205. If d = 2, then n = 252 – 47(2) = 252 – 94 = 158. The
difference is 205 – 158 = 47, so Addison reads 47 pages per day. Eliminate (A). Choice (B)
says that Addison reads 252 pages per hour. No information is given about hours.
Furthermore, the work done on (A) reveals that he reads fewer than 252 pages per day, so
he must read less than that per hour. Eliminate (B). Choice (C) says that the book
Addison is reading contains 252 pages. The number of pages in the book is the total
number of pages that Addison has to read. Therefore, this is the number of pages that
Addison has left to read after d = 0 days. Plug in d = 0 and see if n = 252. If d = 0,
then n = 252 – 47(0) = 252. This is consistent with (C), so keep it. Choice (D) says that
Addison will complete the book in 252 days. If that is the case, then when d =
252, n should be 0. Plug in d = 252 to get n = 252 – 47(252). This is clearly less than 0, so
eliminate (D). The correct answer is (C).

It’s Not You, It’s the Question

3. A
 The question asks for an expression equivalent to . There are variables in the answer

choices, so plug in. Let x = 5, which makes y = 3. So . Circle 1. On to the answers,

and plug in x = 5. Choice (A) = 5 – 4 = 1. Keep (A). Choice (B) = 3(5) – 4 = 11. Eliminate

(B). Choice (C) = 9(5) – 12 = 33. Eliminate (C). Choice (D) = 3(5) + 4 = 19. Eliminate (D).

The correct answer is (A).

If At First You Don’t Succeed…

Medium
4. D

The question asks for an expression equivalent to x. There are variables in the answer
choices, so plug in. Let x = 7 so z = 1. Try the answers. Choice (A) is z – 3, or 1 – 3 = –2.
Nope. Choice (B) is 3 – z or 3 – 1 = 2. Nope. Choice (C) is 3z, or 3(1) = 3. Nope. Choice (D)
is 6 + z, or 6 + 1 = 7. Yep! The correct answer is (D).

5. C

The question asks for an expression equivalent to z. There are variables in the answer
choices, so plug in. Let x = 10, which makes y = 20. Remember that a triangle has 180°,
so the third angle, z, must equal 180 – 30 = 150. Circle 150. Try the answers, with x = 10.
Choice (A) gives you 180 + 2(10) = 200. No. Choice (B) gives you 180 + 10 = 190. No.
Choice (C) gives you 180 – 30 = 150, which is what you’re looking for. Choice (D) gives
you 180 – 4(10) = 140. No. The correct answer is (C).

6. B

The question asks for the meaning of 21.3 in the equation. Go through each choice and
determine whether each is 21.3. Choice (A) is the estimated difference between the
population density in 2005 and 2015. Since y represents the years since 2005, y = 0 for
2005 and y = 10 for 2015. To determine the difference in population density between
2005 and 2015, plug in y = 0 and y = 10. If y = 0, then d = 21.3(0) + 1,927.3 = 1,927.3
If y = 10, then d = 21.3(10) + 1,927.3 = 2,140.3. The difference is 2,140.3 – 1927.3 = 213.
The difference is not 21.3, so eliminate (A). Choice (B) is the estimated increase in
population density each year. To determine whether this is 21.3, plug in y = 0 and y = 1
and look at the increase in d. If y = 0, then d = 21.3(0) + 1,927.3 = 1,927.3. If y = 1,
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then d = 21.3(1) + 1,927.3 = 1,948.6. The increase is 1948.6 – 1927.3 = 21.3. This is
consistent with the target, so keep (B). Choice (C) is the population density in 2005. This
 is represented by the value of d, when y = 0, which is 1,927.3, so eliminate (C). Choice (D)
is the total population. The equation only models population density, not total
population. In order to determine total population, the area of the town would be needed.
This information is not given, so total population cannot be determined. Eliminate (D).
The correct answer is (B).

7. B

The question asks for the greatest value of z. There are variables in the question, so plug
in. First, draw yourself a picture. (Think shoebox.) Plug in 2 for x. The formula for volume
of a rectangular solid is length × width × height—in this case, xyz. The volume is 12x =
12(2) = 24. Now come up with 3 different numbers—2 is one of them—that result in a
total of 24 when multiplied together.

A chart is never a bad idea. It keeps you organized.

x y z

2 1 12

Since y is as low as possible, z is as big as possible. Go with it. If you’re not convinced, try
other combinations—but don’t forget, the question asks for the greatest possible value
of z. The correct answer is (B).

8. B

The question asks for an expression that is equivalent to b. There are variables in the

answer choices, so plug in. Since y is isolated, plug in for b. To find an easy value for b,

note that raising a number to a fractional exponent is equivalent to taking a root. Since

the denominator of the fractional exponent is 3, pick a value for b that is a perfect cube.

Let b = 8. Being careful with the parentheses, type into a calculator to get y = 0.5.

The question asks for b, so the target value is 8. Plug y = 0.5 into each answer choice,

eliminating any that aren’t equal to 8. Choice (A) is , so eliminate (A). Choice

(B) is , so keep (B). Choice (C) is , so eliminate (C). Choice (D) is

, so eliminate (D). The correct answer is (B).

Hard
9. B

The question asks for the value of t. There are variables in the question, so plug in. Both

equations have s in them, so plug in a value for s, such as 2. If s = 2, . Now

Therefore, 6t = 2 and . The correct answer is (B).

10. C

The question asks for an expression that will have a remainder of 0 when divided by 8.
There are variables in the answer choices, so plug in. Plug in 11 for a and 5 for b. Those
two choices satisfy all the conditions of the problem. Check the answers. Choices (A) and
(B) are fractions, and the values for a and b are not evenly divisible by each other.
Therefore, neither fraction will result in an integer, so neither can have a remainder of 0
when divided by any integer. Eliminate (A) and (B). Choice (C) gives you 11 + 5 = 16. If
you divide 16 by 8, you get a quotient of 2 and a remainder of 0. Choice (D) gives you (11)
(5) = 55, which is not divisible by 8 and can be eliminated. The correct answer is (C).

11. B

The question asks for an expression that must be an integer. There are variables in the
statements, so plug in. Let x = 3, and try out the statements. If the result is not an integer,
cross out all the answers that contain that statement.

I. Okay so far.

II. x = 3 Okay so far.

III. 6x = 6 • 3 = 18 Okay so far.

you, my friend. This is a hard question. You must go an extra step. Plug in a new number.
Since the question concerns integers, what if you plug in something that isn’t an integer,

like ?

I. That’s no integer. Cross it out.

II. No good either.

III. =2 Okay.

Since you have eliminated I and II, only III remains. The correct answer is (B).

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