All PSAT Math Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #3 : Use The Equation Of A Linear Model To Solve Problems: Ccss.Math.Content.8.Sp.A.3
Matt conducted a statistical experiment to determine the relationship between yearly salary earned and age. In this study, he assigned age (in years) as the independent variable, and yearly salary as the dependent variable. He plotted his results on a scatter plot. If the results follow a linear relationship, what is a reasonable conclusion that could be found based these results?
An undefined slope
A negative slope
A positive slope
A slope of
A positive slope
To help us answer this question, let's think about what we know about jobs:
If you were to get a part time job when you turn , it's likely that you'll make minimum wage because it's your first job and you haven't finished high school, nor would you have a college education. However, if you think about a doctor, graduating from medical school when he/she is about years old, the doctor is likely going to make a lot more than minimum wage because he's gone through high school, college, and medical school. As you can probably assume, doctors make a salary much higher than minimum wage. Based on this scenario, we can conclude that as age increases, salary increases; thus, the slope of the best fit line will have a positive slope.
Example Question #3 : Drawing Conclusions From Graphs & Tables
A school principal conducted a statistical experiment to determine the relationship between and the number of hours spent studying each week. In this study, the principal assigned the number of hours spent studying as the independent variable, and the was assigned as the dependent variable. He plotted his results on a scatter plot. If the results follow a linear relationship, what is a reasonable conclusion that could be found based these results?
An undefined slope
A negative slope
A positive slope
A slope of
A positive slope
We know, from attending school ourselves, that completing homework assignments and studying for quizzes and tests means that we will do better in school than if we didn't do those things. Completing homework and studying for tests takes time outside of school. Normally, the harder you study and the more time you spend studying, the more likely you are to do well in school. If you don't study at all, nor spend anytime completing homework assignments, your school grade will likely be lower than if you had spent time preparing and completing assignments; thus, we can conclude that the more time we spend studying, the higher our will be. As the number of hours studied increases, the will increase; thus, the best fit line will have a positive slope.
Example Question #6 : Drawing Conclusions From Graphs & Tables
Mrs. Frame conducted a statistical experiment to determine the relationship between test grades and the number of hours her students spent studying. In this study, she assigned the number of hours spent studying as the independent variable, and the test grades (in percentages) were assigned as the dependent variable. She plotted her results on a scatter plot. If the results follow a linear relationship, what is a reasonable conclusion that could be found based these results?
A positive slope
A slope of
A negative slope
An undefined slope
A positive slope
We know, from attending school ourselves, that when we have a test coming up that we want to do well on, we'll study for the test. Normally, the harder you study and the more time you spend studying, the more likely you are to do well on the test. If you don't study at all, and don't know the material that's being covered on a test, you'll like do poorly on a test; thus, we can conclude that the more time we spend studying, the higher our test grade will be. As the number of hours studied increases, the score on the test will increase; thus, the best fit line will have a positive slope.
Example Question #4 : Use The Equation Of A Linear Model To Solve Problems: Ccss.Math.Content.8.Sp.A.3
A doctor conducted a statistical experiment to determine the relationship between age and height. In this study, she assigned age as the independent variable, and height (in inches) as the dependent variable. She plotted the data on a scatter plot. The doctor drew a line of best fit and found the to be . What does this mean?
Every month a person grows by
A newborn baby will have an average height of
The average person has a height of
Every year a person grows by
A newborn baby will have an average height of
The question tells us that age is the independent variable, or the , and height is the dependent variable, or the
The is when ; thus, when a person is just born their age is and their average height is
Example Question #8 : Drawing Conclusions From Graphs & Tables
A used car dealership conducted a statistical experiment to determine the relationship between the age of a car and the cost. In this study, he assigned age as the independent variable, and price as the dependent variable. He plotted the data on a scatter plot and drew a line of best fit. The was . What does this mean?
The slope for the best fit line of this data set is
As a car ages, the price increases by
The price of a brand new car is
AS a car ages, the price decreases by
The price of a brand new car is
The question tells us that age is the independent variable, or the , and price is the dependent variable, or the
The is when ; thus, when a car is brand new its age is and the average price is
Example Question #9 : Drawing Conclusions From Graphs & Tables
A used car dealership conducted a statistical experiment to determine the relationship between the age of a car and the cost. In this study, he assigned age as the independent variable, and price as the dependent variable. He plotted the data on a scatter plot and drew a line of best fit. If the results follow a linear relationship, what is a reasonable conclusion that could be found based these results?
A slope of
A negative slope
A positive slope
An undefined slope
A negative slope
Imagine that you were buying a car. You have two options: a brand new car for or the same car, but a ten year older model for , which one would you pick? Most likely, you would take the brand new car because they are the same price. As a car get's older, it decreases in value because it becomes outdated and it the car will likely have been driven a lot more miles the older it gets. This means that the slope of the best fit line will be negative, since the price will decrease as the age increases.
Example Question #32 : Statistics & Probability
A doctor conducted a statistical experiment to determine the relationship between weight and height. In this study, she assigned weight as the independent variable, and height (in inches) as the dependent variable. She plotted the data on a scatter plot. If the results follow a linear relationship, what is a reasonable conclusion that could be found based these results?
A negative slope
An undefined slope
A slope of
A positive slope
A positive slope
Let's think about ourselves in this scenario, as you've gotten taller, has your weight increased or decreased? Most likely, as your height has increased your weight has also increased; thus the slope of the best fit line for this data would be positive.
Example Question #551 : Grade 8
A school principal conducted a statistical experiment to determine the relationship between and the number of hours spent studying each week. In this study, the principal assigned the number of hours spent studying as the independent variable, and the was assigned as the dependent variable. The principal drew a line of best fit and found the to be . What does this mean?
The average student is
A student who studied hours per week received an average of
Every studying increases a student's
Every week of studying increased a student's by
A student who studied hours per week received an average of
The question tells us that the hours spent per week studying is the independent variable, or the , and the is the dependent variable, or the
The is when ; thus, when a student spends zero hours studying their average is
Example Question #2171 : Psat Mathematics
Mr. Miller conducted a statistical experiment to determine the relationship between final grades and the number of school days that his students missed. In this study, he assigned the number of missed school days as the independent variable, and the final grade was assigned as the dependent variable. Every student started the class with a , and based on class assignments, tests scores, etc. the students' final grade was determined. Mr. Miller found that for every one day missed, the students' grade dropped by . Based on this data, select the equation of the best fit line for this scenario.
The equation of the best fit line will be in slope intercept form:
The question tells us that days are the independent variable, or , and the dependent variable is the final class grade, or
Every students starts with a . If we think about a graph, then the start of the graph is when is equal to zero, which is the ; thus, the value of the equation should be
The final piece that we need is the slope, or value, which is associated with the number of days missed. Let's recall from the question that for every single day missed the students grade dropped by . "Drops" means that we are going to have a negative slope; thus, the slope for this scenario is the following:
If we put all of the pieces together, then the equation for the line of best fit is the following:
Example Question #2172 : Psat Mathematics
A teacher at a high school conducted a survey of seniors and found that students owned a laptop and of those students also had a car. There were students that did not have a laptop, but owned a car. Last, they found that students did not own a laptop nor a car. Given this information, how many students had a laptop, but did not own a car?
To help answer this question, we can construct a two-way table and fill in our known quantities from the question.
The columns of the table will represent the students who have a laptop or do not have a laptop and the rows will contain the students who have a car or do not have a car. The first bit of information that we were given from the question was that students had a laptop; therefore, needs to go in the "laptop" column as the row total. Next, we were told that of those students, owned a car; therefore, we need to put in the "laptop" column and in the "car" row. Then, we were told that students do not own a laptop, but own a car, so we need to put in the "no laptop" column and the "car" row. Finally, we were told that students do not have a laptop or a car, so needs to go in the "no laptop" column and "no car" row. If done correctly, you should create a table similar to the following:
Our question asked how many students have a laptop, but do not own have a car. We can take the total number of students that own a lap top, , and subtract the number of students who have a car,
This means that students who have a laptop, don't have a car.