PSAT Math : PSAT Mathematics

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for PSAT Math

varsity tutors app store varsity tutors android store

Example Questions

Example Question #33 : Proportion / Ratio / Rate

If an airplane is flying 225mph about how long will it take the plane to go 600 miles?

Possible Answers:

3.5 hours

2.4 hours

2.5 hours

2.7 hours

3.2 hours

Correct answer:

2.7 hours

Explanation:

Speed = distance /time; So by solving for time we get time = distance /speed. So the equation for the answer is (600 miles)/ (225 miles/hr)= 2.67 hours; Remember to round up when the last digit of concern is 5 or more.

 

 

 

Example Question #11 : How To Find Rate

Vikki is able to complete 4 SAT reading questions in 6 minutes. At this rate, how many questions can she answer in 3 1/2 hours?

Possible Answers:

170

150

140

210

35

Correct answer:

140

Explanation:

First, find how many minutes are in 3 1/2 hours: 3 * 60 + 30 = 210 minutes. Then divide 210 by 6 to find how many six-minute intervals are in 210 minutes: 210/6 = 35. Since Vikki can complete 4 questions every 6 minutes, and there are 35 six-minute intervals we can multiply 4 by 35 to determine the total number of questions that she can complete.

4 * 35 = 140 problems. 

Example Question #32 : Proportion / Ratio / Rate

The price of k kilograms of quartz is 50 dollars, and each kilogram makes s clocks. In terms of s and k, what is the price, in dollars, of the quartz required to make 1 clock?

Possible Answers:
(50s ) / k
s / (50k )
(50k ) / s
(ks ) / 50
50 / (ks )
Correct answer: 50 / (ks )
Explanation:

We want our result to have units of "dollars" in the numerator and units of "clocks" in the denominator. To do so, put the given information into conversion ratios that cause the units of "kilogram" to cancel out, as follows: (50 dollar/k kilogram)* (1 kilogram / s clock) = 50/(ks) dollar/clock.

Since the ratio has dollars in the numerator and clocks in the denominator, it represents the dollar price per clock.

Example Question #11 : How To Find Rate

Minnie can run 5000 feet in 15 minutes.  At this rate of speed, how long will it take her to fun 8500 feet?

Possible Answers:

25.5 min

75.5 min

36.5 min

20 min

18.5 min

Correct answer:

25.5 min

Explanation:

Find the rate of speed.  5000ft/15 min = 333.33 ft per min

Divide distance by speed to find the time needed

8500ft/333.33ft per min = 25.5

Example Question #531 : Arithmetic

If Kara drives a distance of miles every hours, how many hours will it take her to drive a distance of miles, in terms of m, h, and d ?

Possible Answers:

hmd

dmh

mhd

dhm

dhm

Correct answer:

dhm

Explanation:

We need to convert miles into hours. We do so by multiplying d miles by the conversion ratio of miles to hours given in the problem, ( hours / miles), as follows:

miles * ( hours / miles) = (dh )/m  hours.

From this conversion of miles into hours, we see that the number of hours it takes Kara to drive a distance of miles is (dh )/m.

Example Question #11 : How To Find Rate

Ruby drives to her grandmother's house and back. On the way there, she travels at an average speed of 40 miles per hour. On the way back, she travels at an average speed of 60 miles per hour. What is Ruby's average speed for the entire round trip?

Possible Answers:

40

50

48

60

52

Correct answer:

48

Explanation:

Remember d=rt where d = distance, r = rate, and t = time.  In this case, the distance to and the distance from are the same, so we know that

d = rt1 and d = r2 t2

Since r1 = 40 and r2 = 60, we can solve for the times and get

t1 = d/40 and t2 = d/60

Average speed is found by total distance over total time, so we get

Average_rate

Multiplying the numerator and denominator by 120/d we get 240/(3 + 2) = 48.

Example Question #41 : Proportion / Ratio / Rate

If an object takes 10 minutes to go 3 miles, how fast is the object going?

Possible Answers:

36 mph

18 mph

10/3 mph

3/10 mph

1/2 mph

Correct answer:

18 mph

Explanation:

First convert minutes to hours, so 10 minutes is 1/6 hours; then remember distance = rate * time, so distance/time = rate then 3/(1/6) = 18 mph

Example Question #21 : How To Find Rate

Mary travels at a constant speed to her friend Clara's house by walking directly east for 8 miles, and then walking directly north for 6 miles. The amount of time that it takes her to reach Clara's house is equal to t. If Mary had been able to travel directly to Clara's house in a straight line at the same speed, how much time would she have saved, in terms of t?

Possible Answers:

4t/7

6t/7

5t/7

3t/7

2t/7

Correct answer:

2t/7

Explanation:

Drt1

Drt2

Drt3

Example Question #21 : How To Find Rate

Sam earns d dollars per day. At this rate, how many days will it take Sam to earn q dollars?

Possible Answers:

10q

100d/q

d/q

q/d

dq

Correct answer:

q/d

Explanation:

q is the number of dollars to be earned, d is the amount earned each day, so you divide q by d to get the number of days.

Example Question #44 : Proportion / Ratio / Rate

Bob can build a house in 3 days. Gary can build a house in 5 days. How long does it take them to build a house together?

Possible Answers:

3/2 days

4 days

2 days

5/4 days

15/8 days

Correct answer:

15/8 days

Explanation:

DO NOT pick 4 days, which would be the middle number between Bob and Gary's rates of 3 and 5 days respectively. The middle rate is the answer that students always want to pick, so the SAT will provide it as an answer to trick you!

Let's think about this intuitively before we actually solve it, so hopefully you won't be tempted to pick a trick answer ever again! Bob can build the house in 3 days if he works by himself, so with someone else helping him, it has to take less than 3 days to build the house! This will always be true. Never pick the middle rate on a combined rates problem like this! 

Now let's look at the problem computationally. Bob can build a house in 3 days, so he builds 1/3 of a house in 1 day. Similarly, Gary can build a house in 5 days, so he builds 1/5 of a house in 1 day. Then together they build 1/3 + 1/5 = 5/15 + 3/15 = 8/15 of the house in 1 day.

Now, just as we did to see how much house Gary and Bob can build separately in one day, we can take the reciprocal of 8/15 to see how many days it takes them to build a house together. (When we took the reciprocal for Bob, 3 days/1 house = 1/3 house per day.) The reciprocal of 8/15 is 15/8, so they took 15/8 days to build the house together. 15/8 days is almost 2 days, which seems like a reasonable answer. Make sure your answer choices make sense when you are solving word problems!

Learning Tools by Varsity Tutors