Here’s how to solve Question 18 in Test 1, Section 3. The secret is understanding that raising any number to the zero power equals 1.
Math
This Is Not Your Brain
I’ve had a couple of instances this week where my students blindly grab their calculators, start punching in numbers, and then announce the answer without running it by their gray matter. While I wouldn’t want to tackle the entire SAT math section without my calculator, the College Board asserts that all the questions can be […]
How to Solve for Invisible Shapes
We’ve discussed how drawing pictures can help you solve math problems. But what happens when we can’t see what you are looking for? Shorten the trip If Diane were able to travel from A to D directly, how much shorter would her trip be? As always, draw […]
How to Solve for Funky Shapes
In rectangle PQRS above, arc QT and RT are quarter circles with centers at P and S, respectively. If the radius of each quarter circle is 1, what is the area of the shaded region? (This a problem from the Blue Book, Test 6, Section 2, Question 16 on page 703.) These problems drive my […]
The Trick for Finding Interior Angles of Wonky* Shapes
Can you find x? My students know if they can figure out this angle, they’ll be able to solve for x (by finding their way around the geometry section in 180 degrees.) But here they get stumped. How do you figure out how many interior degrees there are in wonky shapes? 180 degrees comes to […]
Around the Geometry Section in 180 degrees
Just as Phileas Fogg made it around the world in 80 days, you can navigate around the Geometry section using just 180 degrees. Here’s how: Around the problem in 180 degrees Knowing these two rules can unlock many esoteric questions. There are 180 degrees in a straight line. There are 180 degrees in a triangle. Let’s […]