SSAT Upper Level Math : Algebra

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SSAT Upper Level Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #12 : Algebraic Word Problems

Bobby is five years older than his sister Geri. In ten years, Geri's age will be thirty years less than twice Bobby's age. How old is Bobby now?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Let  be Bobby's age. Since Geri is five years younger, her age is five years subtracted from Bobby's age, or 

In ten years, both will have had ten years added to their ages, so Bobby will be  and Geri will be 

Twice Bobby's age will be , and Geri will be thirty years less than this, or . Set the two expressions for Geri's age in five years equal to each other and solve for .

Distribute:

Collect like terms:

Apply the subtraction property of equality and collect like terms:

Apply the addition property of equality:

Bobby is fifteen years old.

Example Question #11 : Algebraic Word Problems

Eddie, Freida, Grant, Helene, and Ira represented Washington High in a math contest. The team score was the sum of the three highest scores. Grant outscored Eddie and Freida; Helene outscored Grant; Freida outscored Ira. Which three students' scores were added to determine the team score?

Possible Answers:

Eddie, Grant, and Ira

Eddie, Grant, and Helene

Insufficient information is given to answer the question.

Grant, Helene, and Ira

Freida, Grant, and Helene

Correct answer:

Insufficient information is given to answer the question.

Explanation:

Let  be Eddie's, Freida's, Grant's, Helene's and Ira's scores. Each of the following statements can be translated into inequalities as follows:

 Grant outscored Eddie and Freida: 

Helene outscored Grant: 

Freida ourtscored Ira:

The first and third statements can be combined to form the three-part inequality:

The second, third, and fourth statements can be combined to form the four-part inequality:

Since Helene and Grant were the top two finishers, their scores were counted. However, it cannot be determined which student finished third from these statements. Therefore, insufficient information is given to answer the question.

Example Question #11 : How To Solve Algebraic Word Problems

In his first seven games of the season LeBron scores 11, 31, 22, 32, 41, 32, and 22 points. How many points would he have to score in his next game in order to average 30 points per game for his first eight games of the season?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

For this question you can simply add up the points LeBron has scored thus far (191), determine how many points he would need through 8 games to be averaging 30 per game (240) and subtract to get 49.

If that's more adding than you want to do, though, you can also take the total number of points that LeBron is under 30 in each of the games when he failed to reach that mark and add these to get . Then combine this with the total number of points that he is over 30 in the rest of the games  to get a net of . So in his 8th game he will need to score the 30 points, but 19 extra to make up for the deficit: .

Example Question #17 : Algebraic Word Problems

What is the mean of the set below?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The first step is to convert the set  to fractions that have a common denominator of 12. This gives us:

The mean is then calculated by dividing the sum of the numbers in the set by the number of items in the set. 

The sum of the items in the set is: 

There are 4 items in the set, so the sum must be divided by 4 (or multiplied by ). 

This results in:

Example Question #13 : Algebraic Word Problems

The price of a nugget is  units, which is two more than twice the value of a bronze object.  What is the price of the bronze object?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Write the word problem in terms of a mathematical equation.  Let  be the value of the bronze object.

Solve for .

The value of the bronze object is  units.

Example Question #21 : Algebraic Word Problems

A pitcher standing on top of a 120-foot high building throws a baseball straight up at an initial speed of 92 miles per hour. The height  in feet of the ball after time  seconds can be modelled by the equation 

.

How long does it take for the baseball to reach its height (nearest second)

Possible Answers:

5 seconds

3 seconds

4 seconds

2 seconds

6 seconds

Correct answer:

3 seconds

Explanation:

 has a parabola as its graph; the height of the baseball relative to the time elapsed can be modelled by this parabola. The height of the baseball when it reaches its peak corresponds to the vertex of the parabola. The first coordinate of the vertex, or , is equal to , where, here,

 and .

Therefore, the time coordinate of the vertex is 

Of the given responses, 3 seconds comes closest.

Example Question #21 : Algebraic Word Problems

A pitcher standing on top of a 96-foot high building throws a baseball straight up at an initial speed of 80 miles per hour. The height  in feet of the ball after time  seconds can be modelled by the equation 

.

How long does it take for the ball to hit the ground?

Possible Answers:

10 seconds

12 seconds

6 seconds

8 seconds

4 seconds

Correct answer:

6 seconds

Explanation:

When the ball hits the ground, the height is 0, so set  and solve for :

Either  or .

If , then . Since time cannot be negative, we throw this out.

If , then  - this is the answer we accept. 

The ball hits the ground in 6 seconds.

Example Question #23 : Algebraic Word Problems

A pitcher standing on top of a 96-foot high building throws a baseball straight up at an initial speed of 80 miles per hour. The height  in feet of the ball after time  seconds can be modelled by the equation 

.

Which of the following is closest to the height of the ball when it reaches its peak?

Possible Answers:

150 feet

250 feet

225 feet

200 feet

175 feet

Correct answer:

200 feet

Explanation:

 has a parabola as its graph; the height of the baseball relative to the time elapsed can be modelled by this parabola. The height of the baseball when it reaches its peak corresponds to the vertex of the parabola. The first coordinate of the vertex, or , is equal to , where, here,

The time elapsed after the baseball reaches its peak is

 seconds.

The height at that time is 

 feet.

The closest of the given responses is 200 feet.

Example Question #24 : Algebraic Word Problems

A biologist observes that the population of catfish in a given lake seems to be growing linearly. In 2000, he estimated the number of catfish in the pond to be 7,000; in 2010, he estimated the number to be 11,000. If, indeed, the growth is linear, then express the catfish population  as a function of the year number.

Possible Answers:

None of the other responses gives the correct answer.

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The data given can be written in the form of two ordered pairs , with  the number of the year and  the number of catfish - these pairs are  and .

Setting  in the slope formula, the line through these two points has slope

Using the point-slope formula with the first point, the line that models the catfish population is

Example Question #22 : Algebraic Word Problems

A boat that travels 35 miles per hour in still water can travel 270 miles downstream in 6 hours. To the nearest half an hour, how long will it take the boat to travel that same distance upstream?

Possible Answers:

12 hours

11 hours

12.5 hours

10.5 hours

11.5 hours

Correct answer:

11 hours

Explanation:

Let  be the speed of the river current. 

The speed of the boat going downstream is , the sum of the speed of the boat in still water and the speed of the river current. Since rate is distance divided by time, 

To get the speed of the boat going upstream, subtract the speed of the current from that of the boat in still water:  miles per hour.

Since rate multiplied by time is equal to distance, we have:

 hours,

making the correct choice 11 hours.

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