Question ID 45cfb9de

Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Linear inequalities

in one or two
variables

ID: 45cfb9de

Adam’s school is a 20-minute walk or a 5-minute bus ride away from his house.
The bus runs once every 30 minutes, and the number of minutes, w, that Adam
waits for the bus varies between 0 and 30. Which of the following inequalities gives
the values of w for which it would be faster for Adam to walk to school?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: 45cfb9de Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale
Choice D is correct. It is given that w is the number of minutes that Adam waits for the bus. The total time it takes Adam to
get to school on a day he takes the bus is the sum of the minutes, w, he waits for the bus and the 5 minutes the bus ride
takes; thus, this time, in minutes, is w + 5. It is also given that the total amount of time it takes Adam to get to school on a
day that he walks is 20 minutes. Therefore, w + 5 > 20 gives the values of w for which it would be faster for Adam to walk to
school.

Choices A and B are incorrect because w – 5 is not the total length of time for Adam to wait for and then take the bus to
school. Choice C is incorrect because the inequality should be true when walking 20 minutes is faster than the time it takes
Adam to wait for and ride the bus, not less.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID ee2f611f
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Linear inequalities

in one or two
variables

ID: ee2f611f

A local transit company sells a monthly pass for $95 that allows an unlimited
number of trips of any length. Tickets for individual trips cost $1.50, $2.50, or
$3.50, depending on the length of the trip. What is the minimum number of trips
per month for which a monthly pass could cost less than purchasing individual
tickets for trips?

ID: ee2f611f Answer

Rationale
The correct answer is 28. The minimum number of individual trips for which the cost of the monthly pass is less than the
cost of individual tickets can be found by assuming the maximum cost of the individual tickets, $3.50. If n tickets costing
$3.50 each are purchased in one month, the inequality 95 < 3.50n represents this situation. Dividing both sides of the
inequality by 3.50 yields 27.14 < n, which is equivalent to n > 27.14. Since only a whole number of tickets can be purchased, it
follows that 28 is the minimum number of trips.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID fdee0fbf
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Linear equations in

two variables

ID: fdee0fbf

In the xy-plane, line k intersects the y-axis at the point and passes through
the point . If the point lies on line k, what is the value of w ?

ID: fdee0fbf Answer

Rationale
The correct answer is 74. The y-intercept of a line in the xy-plane is the ordered pair of the point of intersection of the

line with the y-axis. Since line k intersects the y-axis at the point , it follows that is the y-intercept of this line.
An equation of any line in the xy-plane can be written in the form , where m is the slope of the line and b is the y-
coordinate of the y-intercept. Therefore, the equation of line k can be written as , or . The value of
m can be found by substituting the x- and y-coordinates from a point on the line, such as , for x and y, respectively. This
results in . Solving this equation for m gives . Therefore, an equation of line k is . The value of w
can be found by substituting the x-coordinate, 20, for x in the equation of line k and solving this equation for y. This gives
, or . Since w is the y-coordinate of this point, .

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 70feb725
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Systems of two

linear equations in
two variables

ID: 70feb725

During a month, Morgan ran r miles at 5 miles per hour and biked b miles at
10 miles per hour. She ran and biked a total of 200 miles that month, and she biked
for twice as many hours as she ran. What is the total number of miles that Morgan
biked during the month?

A. 80

B. 100

C. 120

D. 160

ID: 70feb725 Answer

Correct Answer: D

Rationale
Choice D is correct. The number of hours Morgan spent running or biking can be calculated by dividing the distance she
traveled during that activity by her speed, in miles per hour, for that activity. So the number of hours she ran can be

represented by the expression , and the number of hours she biked can be represented by the expression . It’s given

that she biked for twice as many hours as she ran, so this can be represented by the equation , which can be
rewritten as . It’s also given that she ran r miles and biked b miles, and that she ran and biked a total of 200 miles.
This can be represented by the equation . Substituting for b in this equation yields , or .
Solving for r yields . Determining the number of miles she biked, b, can be found by substituting 40 for r in
, which yields . Solving for b yields .

Choices A, B, and C are incorrect because they don’t satisfy that Morgan biked for twice as many hours as she ran. In choice
A, if she biked 80 miles, then she ran 120 miles, which means she biked for 8 hours and ran for 24 hours. In choice B, if she
biked 100 miles, then she ran 100 miles, which means she biked for 10 hours and ran for 20 hours. In choice C, if she biked
120 miles, then she ran for 80 miles, which means she biked for 12 hours and ran for 16 hours.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID d7bf55e1
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Systems of two

linear equations in
two variables

ID: d7bf55e1

A movie theater sells two types of tickets, adult tickets for $12 and child tickets for
$8. If the theater sold 30 tickets for a total of $300, how much, in dollars, was
spent on adult tickets? (Disregard the $ sign when gridding your answer.)

ID: d7bf55e1 Answer

Rationale
The correct answer is 180. Let a be the number of adult tickets sold and c be the number of child tickets sold. Since the
theater sold a total of 30 tickets, a + c = 30. The price per adult ticket is $12, and the price per child ticket is $8. Since the
theater received a total of $300 for the 30 tickets sold, it follows that 12a + 8c = 300. To eliminate c, the first equation can be
multiplied by 8 and then subtracted from the second equation:

Because the question asks for the amount spent on adult tickets, which is 12a dollars, the resulting equation can be
multiplied by 3 to give 3(4a) = 3(60) = 180. Therefore, $180 was spent on adult tickets.

Alternate approach: If all the 30 tickets sold were child tickets, their total price would be 30($8) = $240. Since the actual total
price of the 30 tickets was $300, the extra $60 indicates that a certain number of adult tickets, a, were sold. Since the price
of each adult ticket is $4 more than each child ticket, 4a = 60, and it follows that 12a = 180.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 98d3393a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Linear equations in

two variables

ID: 98d3393a

Line in the xy-plane is perpendicular to the line with equation

. What is the slope of line ?

A. 0

B.

C.

D. The slope of line is undefined.

ID: 98d3393a Answer

Correct Answer: A

Rationale
Choice A is correct. It is given that line is perpendicular to a line whose equation is x = 2. A line whose equation is a
constant value of x is vertical, so must therefore be horizontal. Horizontal lines have a slope of 0, so has a slope of 0.

Choice B is incorrect. A line with slope is perpendicular to a line with slope 2. However, the line with equation x = 2 is
vertical and has undefined slope (not slope of 2). Choice C is incorrect. A line with slope –2 is perpendicular to a line with

slope . However, the line with equation x = 2 has undefined slope (not slope of ). Choice D is incorrect; this is the
slope of the line x = 2 itself, not the slope of a line perpendicular to it.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID e8f9e117
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Linear inequalities

in one or two
variables

ID: e8f9e117

The formula above is Ohm’s law for an electric circuit with current I, in amperes,
potential difference V, in volts, and resistance R, in ohms. A circuit has a resistance
of 500 ohms, and its potential difference will be generated by n six-volt batteries
that produce a total potential difference of volts. If the circuit is to have a
current of no more than 0.25 ampere, what is the greatest number, n, of six-volt
batteries that can be used?

ID: e8f9e117 Answer

Rationale
The correct answer is 20. For the given circuit, the resistance R is 500 ohms, and the total potential difference V generated
by n batteries is volts. It’s also given that the circuit is to have a current of no more than 0.25 ampere, which can be

expressed as . Since Ohm’s law says that , the given values for V and R can be substituted for I in this

inequality, which yields . Multiplying both sides of this inequality by 500 yields , and dividing both
sides of this inequality by 6 yields . Since the number of batteries must be a whole number less than 20.833, the
greatest number of batteries that can be used in this circuit is 20.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 0366d965
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Linear equations in

two variables

ID: 0366d965

x y

3 7

k 11

12 n

The table above shows the coordinates of three points on a line in the xy-plane,
where k and n are constants. If the slope of the line is 2, what is the value of
?

ID: 0366d965 Answer

Rationale

The correct answer is 30. The slope of a line can be found by using the slope formula, . It’s given that the slope of

the line is 2; therefore, . According to the table, the points and lie on the line. Substituting the

coordinates of these points into the equation gives . Multiplying both sides of this equation by gives

, or . Solving for k gives . According to the table, the points and also lie

on the line. Substituting the coordinates of these points into gives . Solving for n gives .
Therefore, , or 30.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID c4ea43ef
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Algebra Linear equations in

two variables

ID: c4ea43ef

To earn money for college, Avery works two part-time jobs: A and B. She earns $10
per hour working at job A and $20 per hour working at job B. In one week, Avery
earned a total of s dollars for working at the two part-time jobs. The graph above
represents all possible combinations of numbers of hours Avery could have
worked at the two jobs to earn s dollars. What is the value of s ?

A. 128

B. 160

C. 200

D. 320

ID: c4ea43ef Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale
Choice B is correct. Avery earns $10 per hour working at job A. Therefore, if she works a hours at job A, she will earn
dollars. Avery earns $20 per hour working at job B. Therefore, if she works b hours at job B, she will earn dollars. The
graph shown represents all possible combinations of the number of hours Avery could have worked at the two jobs to earn s
dollars. Therefore, if she worked a hours at job A, worked b hours at job B, and earned s dollars from both jobs, the following
equation represents the graph: , where s is a constant. Identifying any point from the graph and
substituting the values of the coordinates for a and b, respectively, in this equation yield the value of s. For example, the point
, where and , lies on the graph. Substituting 16 for a and 0 for b in the equation yields
, or . Similarly, the point , where and , lies on the graph. Substituting 0 for a and
8 for b in the equation yields , or .

Choices A, C, and D are incorrect. If the value of s is 128, 200, or 320, then no points on the graph will satisfy this
equation. For example, if the value of s is 128 (choice A), then the equation becomes .
The point , where and , lies on the graph. However, substituting 16 for a and 0 for b in
yields , or , which is false. Therefore, doesn’t satisfy the equation, and so the value
of s can’t be 128. Similarly, if (choice C) or (choice D), then substituting 16 for a and 0 for b yields
and , respectively, which are both false.

Question Difficulty: Hard

Question ID 66bce0c1
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Advanced Math Nonlinear equations

in one variable and
systems of
equations in two
variables

ID: 66bce0c1

What is the solution set of the

equation above?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: 66bce0c1 Answer

Correct Answer: B

Rationale
Choice B is correct. Subtracting 4 from both sides of isolates the radical expression on the left side of

the equation as follows: . Squaring both sides of yields . This

equation can be rewritten as a quadratic equation in standard form: . One way to solve this quadratic

equation is to factor the expression by identifying two numbers with a sum of and a product of . These

numbers are and 1. So the quadratic equation can be factored as . It follows that 5 and are the
solutions to the quadratic equation. However, the solutions must be verified by checking whether 5 and satisfy the

original equation, . When , the original equation gives , or ,

which is false. Therefore, does not satisfy the original equation. When , the original equation gives

, or , which is true. Therefore, is the only solution to the original equation, and so the
solution set is .

Choices A, C, and D are incorrect because each of these sets contains at least one value that results in a false statement
when substituted into the given equation. For instance, in choice D, when 0 is substituted for x into the given equation, the
result is , or . This is not a true statement, so 0 is not a solution to the given equation.

Question Difficulty: Hard