PSAT Math : PSAT Mathematics

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for PSAT Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Proportion / Ratio / Rate

A particular ball always bounces back to 2/5 of the height of its previous bounce after being dropped. After the first bounce it reaches a height of 175 inches. Approximately how high (in inches) will it reach after its fifth bounce?

Possible Answers:

20

14

4.5

11.2

Correct answer:

4.5

Explanation:

The first bounce reaches a height of 175. The second bounce will equal 175 multiplied by 2/5 or 70. Repeat this process. You will get the data below. 4.48 is rounded to 4.5.

Example Question #1 : Arithmetic

A lawn can be mowed by  people in  hours. If  people take the day off and do not help mow the grass, how many hours will it take to mow the lawn?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The number of hours required to mow the lawn remains constant and can be found by taking the original  workers times the  hours they worked, totaling  hours. We then split the total required hours between the  works that remain, and each of them have to work  and  hours:  .

Example Question #1 : Proportion / Ratio / Rate

The flow of water through a certain pipe is 20 cubic meters per minute.  How many minutes would it take for 4 of such pipes to fill 2 tanks, if each tank is a cube with a side length of 20 m?

Possible Answers:

40

100

200

50

20

Correct answer:

200

Explanation:

The flow of water through one pipe is 20 m/ minute.

Thus, the flow of water through 4 pipes is 80 m3 / minute.

Since each tank is a cube with a side length of 20m, the volume of each tank is:

Volume of one tank = (20 m)3 = 8000 m3.

The total volume of two tanks is 2 * 8000 m= 16,000 m3

 

Therefore, the total minutes for 4 pipes to fill 2 tanks is:

16,000 m3/(80 m3/min) = 200 minutes

80 m3/min

Example Question #1 : Proportion / Ratio / Rate

You are planning a party.  The maximum number of people the reception hall can hold is 1 person for every 5 square feet of space.  If the hall is 60 feet wide and 50 feet long, how many people can you invite?

Possible Answers:

1500

500

600

2500

3000

Correct answer:

600

Explanation:

Total area of hall = 60ft * 50ft = 3000 ft2

At 1 person per 5 square feet, 3000 ft2 / 5 ft2 per person  = 600 people

Example Question #3 : Proportion / Ratio / Rate

A gallon contains 8 pints.  Each pint contains 2 cups.  How many cups are in a 10-gallon jug of water?

Possible Answers:

160

80

220

20

26

Correct answer:

160

Explanation:

Find the number of cups in a gallon, then calculate cups in 10 gallons.

If 8 pints = 1 gallon, then 16 cups = 1 gallon

16 cups * 10 gallons = 160 cups

Example Question #2 : Proportion / Ratio / Rate

A mile is 5280 feet

Susan is able to walk a fast pace of 4 miles per hour.  How many feet will she walk in 40 minutes?

Possible Answers:

8/3

15840

3

15000

14080

Correct answer:

14080

Explanation:

Calculate the number of feet walked in an hour.  Then calculate what fraction of an hour 40 minutes is.

5280 * 4 = 21120 feet walked in an hour

60 minutes in an hour, so 40 minutes = 2/3 hour (40/60)

21120(2/3) = 14080 feet walked in 40 minutes

Example Question #6 : Proportion / Ratio / Rate

Two numbers have a ratio of 5 : 2. If they are positive and differ by 21, what is the value of the larger number?

Possible Answers:

None of the other answers

70

14

28

35

Correct answer:

35

Explanation:

We can rewrite this as two equations

5/2 = x/y

x – y = 21

Solve y for x in the second equation: x = 21 + y → y = x – 21

Substitute back into the first equation and solve:

5/2 = x/(x – 21)

5(x – 21)/2 = x → (5x – 105)/2 = x → 5x – 105 = 2x → 5x – 2x = 105 → 3x = 105; x = 105/3 = 35

Since we know the numerator must be larger (given the prompt), the answer is x, or 35.

Example Question #11 : Arithmetic

A bag contains 240 marbles that are either red, blue, or green. The ratio of red to blue to green marbles is 5 : 2 : 1. If one-third of the red marbles and two-thirds of the green marbles are removed, what fraction of the remaining marbles in the bag will be blue?

Possible Answers:

6/13

7/18

1/2

1/3

6/17

Correct answer:

6/17

Explanation:

First, we need to figure out how many red, blue, and green marbles are in the bag before any are removed. Let 5x represent the number of red marbles. Because the marbles are in a ratio of 5 : 2 : 1, then if there are 5x red marbles, there are 2x blue, and 1x green marbles. If we add up all of the marbles, we will get the total number of marbles, which is 240.

5x + 2x + 1x = 240

8x = 240

x = 30

Because the number of red marbles is 5x, there are 5(30), or 150 red marbles. There are 2(30), or 60 blue marbles, and there are 1(30), or 30 green marbles.

So, the bag originally contains 150 red, 60 blue, and 30 green marbles. We are then told that one-third of the red marbles is removed. Because one-third of 150 is 50, there would be 100 red marbles remaining. Next, two-thirds of the green marbles are removed. Because (2/3)(30) = 20, there would be 10 green marbles left after 20 are removed.

To summarize, after the marbles are removed, there are 100 red, 60 blue, and 10 green marbles. The question asks us for the fraction of blue marbles in the bag after the marbles are removed. This means there would be 60 blue marbles out of the 170 left in the bag. The fraction of blue marbles would therefore be 60/170, which simplifies to 6/17.

The answer is 6/17.

Example Question #31 : Fractions

Alan is twice as old as Betty.  He will be twice as old as Charlie in 10 years.  If Charlie is 2 years old, how old is Betty?

Possible Answers:

24

28

2

17

7

Correct answer:

7

Explanation:

If Charlie is 2 years old now; in 10 years he will be 12 years old. At that point, Alan will be twice as old as Charlie. Twice 12 is 24. This means that Alan is currently 10 years younger than 24, or 14. Since Alan is currently twice as old as Betty, she must be half of 14, or 7.

Example Question #12 : How To Find A Ratio

The ratio of 10 to 14 is closest to what value?

Possible Answers:

0.04

0.57

1.40

0.71

0.24

Correct answer:

0.71

Explanation:

Another way to express ratios is through division.  10 divided by 14 is approximate 0.71.

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