SSAT Upper Level Math : Geometry

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

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Tangent Lines

Find the slope of a tangent line at point  if the equation is .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Rewrite the linear equation in standard form to slope-intercept form, .

Since the slope of every point of this line is , the slope of the tangent line at the given point should also be .

Example Question #1 : Tangent Lines

Find the slope of a tangent line at point  if the equation of the function is .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To determine the slope of the function, , use the power rule to find the derivative function.

The slope at every point of the function  has a slope of .  To find the slope at the given point, substitute the x-value of the given point, , into the derivative function to find the slope.

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Equation Of A Tangent Line

Circle A is centered about the origin and has a radius of 5. What is the equation of the line that is tangent to Circle A at the point (–3,4)?

Possible Answers:

–3x + 4y = 1

3x – 4y = –1

3x – 4y = –25

3x + 4y = 7

Correct answer:

3x – 4y = –25

Explanation:

The line must be perpendicular to the radius at the point (–3,4). The slope of the radius is given by  Actmath_7_113_q7

 

The radius has endpoints (–3,4) and the center of the circle (0,0), so its slope is –4/3.

The slope of the tangent line must be perpendicular to the slope of the radius, so the slope of the line is ¾.

The equation of the line is y – 4 = (3/4)(x – (–3))

Rearranging gives us: 3x – 4y = -25

 

 

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Equation Of A Tangent Line

Find the equation of a tangent line at point  if the function is .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the slope of the tangent line, it is necessary to determine the slope of the function.

The function  is already in the slope-intercept form, , and .

Substitute the slope and the given point  into the slope-intercept equation.

Substitute the known slope and the y-intercept to the slope-intercept form.

Example Question #461 : Ssat Upper Level Quantitative (Math)

Function

Give the equation graphed in the above figure.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The graph below is the graph of the absolute value function , which pairs each -coordinate with its absolute value.

Absolute value graph

The given graph is the same as the above graph, except that each -coordinate is paired with the -coordinate three times that with which it is paired in the above graph. Therefore, the equation graphed is 

or

Example Question #1 : How To Find Transformation For An Analytic Geometry Equation

If the graph of the equation  is shifted right three units on the coordinate plane, what will be the equation of the resulting graph?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The graph of a function  shifted right three units is the graph of . In this graph, , so the graph formed by the transformation is

The correct equation is .

Example Question #1 : How To Find Transformation For An Analytic Geometry Equation

If the graph of the equation  is reflected about the origin, what will the equation of the resulting graph be?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The reflection of the graph of the equation  about the origin is the graph of the equation , so replace  with  and  with :

becomes

Example Question #2 : How To Find Transformation For An Analytic Geometry Equation

If the graph of the equation  is reflected about the -axis, what will the equation of the resulting graph be?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The reflection of the graph of the equation  about the -axis is the graph of the equation , so replace  with :

becomes

Example Question #3 : How To Find Transformation For An Analytic Geometry Equation

If the graph of the equation  is reflected about the -axis, what will the equation of the resulting graph be?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The reflection of the graph of the equation  about the -axis is the graph of the equation , so replace  with :

becomes

Example Question #4 : How To Find Transformation For An Analytic Geometry Equation

If the graph of the equation  is reflected about the origin, what will the equation of the resulting graph be?

Possible Answers:

None of the other responses gives a correct answer.

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The reflection of the graph of the equation  about the origin is the graph of the equation , so replace  with  and  with :

becomes

The absolute values of two expressions that are each other's opposites are equal, so  is equivalent to . The expression can be rewritten as 

.

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