Arithmetic

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PSAT Math › Arithmetic

Questions 1 - 10
1

If a car travels at 30 mph, how many feet per second does travel?

44 ft/s

2,640 ft/s

4,400 ft/s

440 ft/s

264 ft/s

Explanation

30 miles / 1 hour * 5280 ft / 1 mile * 3600 seconds / 1 hour = 44 ft/sec

2

Write 7.5% as a fraction.

Explanation

First convert the percentage to a decimal:

7.5% = .075

Then turn this into a fraction:

.075 = 75/1000

Simplify by dividing the numerator and denominator by 25:

75/1000 = 3/40

3

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?

15/8 days

4 days

2 days

3/2 days

5/4 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!

4

Which of the following fractions is between 0.2 and 0.3?

\dpi{100} \small \frac{1}{4}

\dpi{100} \small \frac{1}{6}

\dpi{100} \small \frac{1}{3}

\dpi{100} \small \frac{1}{2}

\dpi{100} \small \frac{2}{3}

Explanation

\dpi{100} \small \frac{1}{4}=0.25

\dpi{100} \small 0.2<0.25<0.3

\dpi{100} \small \frac{1}{6}\approx 0.167<0.2

The other three choices are larger than 0.3.

5

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?

15/8 days

4 days

2 days

3/2 days

5/4 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!

6

In a group of 20 children, 25% are girls. How many boys are there?

15

10

16

4

5

Explanation

Since \dpi{100} \small \frac{1}{4} of the children are girls, this totals to \dpi{100} \small 20 \times \frac{1}{4} = 5 girls in the group.

\dpi{100} \small 20-5=15 boys.

7

Write as a fraction: 22%

4/9

2/3

4/7

11/50

11/100

Explanation

22% = 22/100

Divide everything by 2:

22/100 = 11/50

11 is a prime number, so this is as reduced as this fraction can get.

8

Three hens each lay 20 eggs for a farmer. Two-fifths of the first hen's eggs are brown. One-fourth of the second hen's eggs are brown. Seven-tenths of the third hen's eggs are white. What percentage of all the eggs are brown?

Explanation

The first hen lays 8 brown eggs: 2/5 * 20 = 8

The second lays 5 brown eggs: 1/4 * 20 = 5

The third lays 6 brown eggs: 3/10 * 20 = 6

Add up the brown eggs and divide by 60, the total number of eggs:

19/60 = 0.31666667 = 31.67%, or 32%.

9

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?

15/8 days

4 days

2 days

3/2 days

5/4 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!

10

Write as a fraction: 22%

4/9

2/3

4/7

11/50

11/100

Explanation

22% = 22/100

Divide everything by 2:

22/100 = 11/50

11 is a prime number, so this is as reduced as this fraction can get.

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