How to find f(x) - PSAT Math

Card 0 of 630

Question

If f(x) = 5x – 10, then what is the value of 5(f(10)) – 10?

Answer

The first step is to find what f(10) equals, so f(10)=5(10) – 10 = 40. Then substitute 40 into the second equation: 5(40) – 10 = 200 – 10 = 190.

190 is the correct answer

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Question

f(x) = 0.1x + 7

g(x) = 1000x + 4

What is g(f(100))?

Answer

First find the value of f(100) = 0.1(100) + 7 = 10 + 7 = 17

Then find g(17) = 1000(17) + 4 = 17000 + 4 = 17004.

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Question

The rate of a gym membership costs p dollars the first month and m dollars per month every month thereafter. Which of the following represents the total cost of the gym membership for n months, if n is a positive integer?

Answer

The one-time first-month cost is p, and the monthly cost is m, which gets multipled by every month but the first (of which there are n -1). The total cost is the first-month cost of p, plus the monthly cost for (i.e. times) n -1 months, which makes the total cost equal to p + m (n -1).

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Question

  1. If f(x) = (x + 4)/(x – 4) for all integers except x = 4, which of the following has the lowest value?

Answer

Plug each value for x into the above equation and solve for f(x). f(1) provides the lowest value –5/3

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Question

If n and p are positive and 100_n_3_p_-1 = 25_n_, what is n-2 in terms of p ?

Answer

To solve this problem, we look for an operation to perform on both sides that will leave n-2 by itself on one side. Dividing both sides by 25_n_-3 would leave n-2 by itself on the right side of the equqation, as shown below:

100n3p–1/25n–3 = 25n/25n–3

Remember that when dividing terms with the same base, we subtract the exponents, so the equation can be written as 100n0p–1/25 = n–2

Finally, we simplify to find 4_p–_1 = _n–_2.

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Question

If 7y = 4x - 12, then x =

Answer

Adding 12 to both sides and dividing by 4 yields (7y+12)/4.

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Question

Which of the statements describes the solution set for **–**7(x + 3) = **–**7x + 20 ?

Answer

By distribution we obtain **–**7x 21 = 7x + 20. This equation is never possibly true.

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Question

If a(x) = 2x3 + x, and b(x) = –2x, what is a(b(2))?

Answer

When functions are set up within other functions like in this problem, the function closest to the given variable is performed first. The value obtained from this function is then plugged in as the variable in the outside function. Since b(x) = –2x, and x = 2, the value we obtain from b(x) is –4. We then plug this value in for x in the a(x) function. So a(x) then becomes 2(–43) + (–4), which equals –132.

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Question

xf(x)g(x)
940
1061
1190
1213–1

According to the figure above, what is the value of g(12) – √f(9)?

Answer

For this question, we "plug in" the value of x given, which is inside the parentheses, and follow along the table to see what value the f or g functions output. For g(12), the output value is –1, while for f(9), the output value is 4 (be careful not to reverse these!) Thus, we can plug into the equation given:

(–1) – √4) = –1 – 2 = –3.

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Question

If and , what is ?

Answer

g is a function of f, and f is a function of 3, so you must work inside out.

f(3) = 11

g(f(3)) = g(11) = 121 + 11 = 132

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Question

Let f(x, y) = x2y2 – xy + y. If a = f(1, 3), and b = f(–2, –1), then what is f(a, b)?

Answer

f(x, y) is defined as x2y2 – xy + y. In order to find f(a, b), we will need to first find a and then b.

We are told that a = f(1, 3). We can use the definition of f(x, y) to determine the value of a.

a = f(1, 3) = 1232 – 1(3) + 3 = 1(9) – 3 + 3 = 9 + 0 = 9

a = 9

Similarly, we can find b by determining the value of f(–2, –1).

b = f(–2, –1) = (–2)2(–1)2 – (–2)(–1) + –1 = 4(1) – (2) – 1 = 4 – 2 – 1 = 1

b = 1

Now, we can find f(a, b), which is equal to f(9, 1).

f(a, b) = f(9, 1) = 92(12) – 9(1) + 1 = 81 – 9 + 1 = 73

f(a, b) = 73

The answer is 73.

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Question

Let F(x) = _x_3 + 2_x_2 – 3 and G(x) = x + 5. Find F(G(x))

Answer

F(G(x)) is a composite function where the expression G(x) is substituted in for x in F(x)

F(G(x)) = (x + 5)3 + 2(x + 5)2 – 3 = x_3 + 17_x_2 + 95_x + 172

G(F(x)) = _x_3 + _x_2 + 2

F(x) – G(x) = _x_3 + 2_x_2 – x – 8

F(x) + G(x) = _x_3 + 2_x_2 + x + 2

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Question

What is the value of xy_2(xy – 3_xy) given that x = –3 and y = 7?

Answer

Evaluating yields –6174.

–147(–21 + 63) =

–147 * 42 = –6174

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Question

If z + 2x = 10 and 7z + 2x = 16, what is z?

Answer

Subtract the first expression from the second. That gives you 6z = 6. That simplifies to z = 1.

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Question

If the function g is defined by g(x) = 4_x_ + 5, then 2_g_(x) – 3 =

Answer

The function g(x) is equal to 4_x_ + 5, and the notation 2_g_(x) asks us to multiply the entire function by 2. 2(4_x_ + 5) = 8_x_ + 10. We then subtract 3, the second part of the new equation, to get 8_x_ + 7.

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Question

If f(x) = x_2 + 5_x and g(x) = 2, what is f(g(4))?

Answer

First you must find what g(4) is. The definition of g(x) tells you that the function is always equal to 2, regardless of what “x” is. Plugging 2 into f(x), we get 22 + 5(2) = 14.

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Question

f(a) = 1/3(a_3 + 5_a – 15)

Find a = 3.

Answer

Substitute 3 for all a.

(1/3) * (33 + 5(3) – 15)

(1/3) * (27 + 15 – 15)

(1/3) * (27) = 9

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Question

Evaluate f(g(6)) given that f(x) = _x_2 – 6 and g(x) = –(1/2)x – 5

Answer

Begin by solving g(6) first.

g(6) = –(1/2)(6) – 5

g(6) = –3 – 5

g(6) = –8

We substitute f(–8)

f(–8) = (–8)2 – 6

f(–8) = 64 – 6

f(–8) = 58

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Question

If f(x) = |(_x_2 – 175)|, what is the value of f(–10) ?

Answer

If x = –10, then (_x_2 – 175) = 100 – 175 = –75. But the sign |x| means the absolute value of x. Absolute values are always positive.

|–75| = 75

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Question

If f(x)= 2x² + 5x – 3, then what is f(–2)?

Answer

By plugging in –2 for x and evaluating, the answer becomes 8 – 10 – 3 = -5.

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