PSAT Math : Describing Roles of Variables and Constants

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for PSAT Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #172 : Equations / Inequalities

Hannah is selling candles for a school fundraiser all fall. She sets a goal of selling  candles per month. The number of candles she has remaining for the month can be expressed at the end of each week by the equations , where  is the number of candles and  is the number of weeks she has sold candles this month. What is the meaning of the value  in this equation? 

Possible Answers:

The number of candles that she sells each week.

The number of candles she has remaining for the month.

The number of weeks that she has sold candles this month.

The number of candles that she has sold thus far that week.

Correct answer:

The number of candles that she sells each week.

Explanation:

Since we know that  stands for weeks, the answer has to have something to do with the weeks. This eliminates "the number of candles she has remaining for the month." Also, we can eliminate "the number of weeks that she has sold candles this month" because that would be our value for , not what we'd multiply  by. The correct answer is,  "the number of candles that she sells each week."

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