Fractions
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PSAT Math › Fractions
In a group of 20 children, 25% are girls. How many boys are there?
15
10
16
4
5
Explanation
Since of the children are girls, this totals to
girls in the group.
boys.
Which of the following fractions is between 0.2 and 0.3?
Explanation
The other three choices are larger than 0.3.
If x = 1/3 and y = 1/2, find the value of 2_x_ + 3_y_.
13/6
1
2
6/5
5/6
Explanation
Substitute the values of x and y into the given expression:
2(1/3) + 3(1/2)
= 2/3 + 3/2
= 4/6 + 9/6
= 13/6
There is a 5 to 3 ratio of red marbles to green marbles in a bucket. How many red marbles can be in a bucket of 40 marbles?
Explanation
In this problem, we use a proportion to solve for the number of red marbles in the bucket. Since the ratio is 5 to 3 we can set up a proportion of the red over total where the total is (red marbles + green marbles). We then set this proportion equal to over our new total, which is 40. Then we cross multiply and divide to get the number of red marbles in a bucket of 40 total marbles.
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
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!
In the 30-day month of January, for every three days it snowed, there were seven days it did not snow. The number of days in January on which it did not snow was how much greater than the number of days in January on which it snowed?
10
11
12
13
14
Explanation
The question tells us that for every ten-day period in January (a three-day period plus a seven-day period), it snowed on 3 of those days and did not snow on 7 of those days. Since January has 30 days, it has 3 ten-day periods, so we multiply the numbers given for the 10-day period by 3 to find the number of days with and without snow during the 30-day period. Doing this, we see that it snowed 3 * 3 = 9 days and did not snow 7 * 3 = 21 days during the 30-day period. Since the question asks how much greater the number of days on which it did not snow is than the number of days on which it snowed, we subtract as follows: number of days it did not snow - number of days it snowed = 21 – 9 = 12.
What is the reciprocal of the following fraction: 18/27
9
27/18
-18/27
9/27
Explanation
A fraction multiplied by its reciprocal will equal 1. To find the reciprocal of a fraction, switch the denominator and numerator. The reciprocal of 18/27 is 27/18.
There is a 5 to 3 ratio of red marbles to green marbles in a bucket. How many red marbles can be in a bucket of 40 marbles?
Explanation
In this problem, we use a proportion to solve for the number of red marbles in the bucket. Since the ratio is 5 to 3 we can set up a proportion of the red over total where the total is (red marbles + green marbles). We then set this proportion equal to over our new total, which is 40. Then we cross multiply and divide to get the number of red marbles in a bucket of 40 total marbles.
In the 30-day month of January, for every three days it snowed, there were seven days it did not snow. The number of days in January on which it did not snow was how much greater than the number of days in January on which it snowed?
10
11
12
13
14
Explanation
The question tells us that for every ten-day period in January (a three-day period plus a seven-day period), it snowed on 3 of those days and did not snow on 7 of those days. Since January has 30 days, it has 3 ten-day periods, so we multiply the numbers given for the 10-day period by 3 to find the number of days with and without snow during the 30-day period. Doing this, we see that it snowed 3 * 3 = 9 days and did not snow 7 * 3 = 21 days during the 30-day period. Since the question asks how much greater the number of days on which it did not snow is than the number of days on which it snowed, we subtract as follows: number of days it did not snow - number of days it snowed = 21 – 9 = 12.