Question ID 2.
e62cfe5f
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Math Algebra Linear functions
ID: e62cfe5f
According to a model, the head width, in millimeters, of a worker
bumblebee can be estimated by adding 0.6 to four times the body
weight of the bee, in grams. According to the model, what would
be the head width, in millimeters, of a worker bumblebee that has
a body weight of 0.5 grams?
ID: e62cfe5f Answer
Rationale
The correct answer is 2.6. According to the model, the head width, in millimeters, of a worker
bumblebee can be estimated by adding 0.6 to 4 times the body weight, in grams, of the bee.
Let x represent the body weight, in grams, of a worker bumblebee and let y represent the head
width, in millimeters. Translating the verbal description of the model into an equation yields
. Substituting 0.5 grams for x in this equation
yields , or . Therefore, a worker bumblebee with a body weight of 0.5 grams has
an
estimated head width of 2.6 millimeters. Note that 2.6 and 13/5 are examples of ways to enter a
correct answer. Question Difficulty: Medium
Question ID 2.2
7e3f8363
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Math Algebra Linear functions
ID: 7e3f8363
In the xy-plane, the graph of the linear function contains the points and . Which equation defines
, where ?
A.
B.
C.
D.
ID: 7e3f8363 Answer
Correct Answer: C
Rationale
Choice C is correct. In the xy-plane, an equation of the graph of a linear function can be written
in the form , where represents the slope and
represents the y-intercept of the graph of
.
It’s given that the graph of the linear function , where , in the xy-plane contains the point .
Thus, . The slope of the graph of a line containing any two points and
can be found using the slope formula,
. Since it’s given that the graph of the linear function contains the
points
and , it follows that the slope of the graph of the line containing these points is ,
or
. Substituting for and for in yields .
Choice A is incorrect. This function represents a graph with a slope of and a y-
intercept of . Choice B is incorrect. This function represents a graph with a slope
of and a y-intercept of . Choice D is incorrect. This function represents a graph
with a slope of and a y-intercept of .
Question Difficulty: Medium
Question ID 2.3
620fe971
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Math Algebra Linear functions
ID: 620fe971
A team of workers has been moving cargo off of a ship. The equation below models the
approximate number of tons of cargo, y, that remains to be moved x hours after the team
started working.
The graph of this equation in the xy-plane is a line. What is the best
interpretation of the x-intercept in this context?
A. The team will have moved all the cargo in about 4.8 hours.
B. The team has been moving about 4.8 tons of cargo per hour.
C. The team has been moving about 25 tons of cargo per hour.
D. The team started with 120 tons of cargo to move.
ID: 620fe971 Answer
Correct Answer: A
Rationale
Choice A is correct. The x-intercept of the line with equation y = 120 – 25x can be found by
substituting 0 for y and finding the value of x. When y = 0, x = 4.8, so the x-intercept is at (4.8, 0).
Since y represents the number of tons of cargo remaining to be moved x hours after the team
started working, it follows that the x-intercept refers to the team having no cargo remaining
to be moved after 4.8 hours. In other words, the team will have moved all of the cargo after
about 4.8 hours.
Choice B is incorrect and may result from incorrectly interpreting the value 4.8. Choices C and
D are incorrect and may result from misunderstanding the x-intercept. These statements are
accurate but not directly relevant to the x-intercept.
Question Difficulty: Medium
Question ID 2.4
5cf1bbc9
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Math Algebra Linear functions
ID: 5cf1bbc9
The graph of the function , where , gives the total cost , in dollars, for a certain video game
system and games. What is the best interpretation of the slope of the graph in this context?
A. Each game costs .
B. The video game system costs .
C. The video game system costs .
D. Each game costs .
ID: 5cf1bbc9 Answer
Correct Answer: A
Rationale
Choice A is correct. The given graph is a line, and the slope of a line is defined as the change
in the value of for each increase in the value of by . It’s given that represents the total
cost, in dollars, and that represents the number of games. Therefore, the change in the value
of for each increase in the value of by represents the change in total cost, in dollars, for
each increase in the number of games by . In other words, the slope represents the cost, in
dollars, per game. The graph shows that when the value of increases from to , the value of
increases from to . It follows that the slope is , or the cost per game is . Thus, the
best interpretation of the slope of the graph is that each game costs .
Choice B is incorrect. This is an interpretation of the y-intercept of the graph rather than the
slope of the graph.
Choice C is incorrect. The slope of the graph is the cost per game, not the cost of the video
game system. Choice D is incorrect. Each game costs , not .
Question Difficulty: Medium
Question ID 2.5
dae126d7
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Math Algebra Linear functions
ID: dae126d7
The boiling point of water at sea level is 212 degrees Fahrenheit
. For every 550 feet above sea level, the boiling point of water is
lowered by about . Which of the following equations can be used
to find the boiling point B of water, in , x feet above sea level?
.
A
.
B
.
C
.
D
ID: dae126d7 Answer
Correct
Answer: D
Rationale
Choice D is correct. It’s given that the boiling point of water at sea level is 212°F and that for
every 550 feet above sea level, the boiling point of water is lowered by about 1°F. Therefore,
the change in the boiling point of
water x feet above sea level is represented by the expression . Adding this expression to the
boiling
point of water at sea level gives the equation for the boiling point B of water, in °F, x feet above sea
level: , or .
Choices A and B are incorrect and may result from using the boiling point of water at sea
level as the rate of change and the rate of change as the initial boiling point of water at
sea level. Choice C is incorrect and may result from representing the change in the boiling
point of water as an increase rather than a decrease.
Question ID 2.6
Question Difficulty: Medium
dae126d7
Question ID 2.7
271f7e3f
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Math Algebra Linear functions
ID: 271f7e3f
For the function f defined above, what is the
value of ?
.
A
.
B
.
C
.
D
ID: 271f7e3f Answer
Correct Answer: B
Rationale
Choice B is correct. The value of can be calculated by finding the values of and .
The value
of can be found by substituting 9 for x in the given function: . This equation
can be rewritten as , or 4. Then, the value of can be found by substituting 1 for x in the
given function:
. This equation can be rewritten as , or 2. Therefore, , which is
equivalent to 2.
Choices A, C, and D are incorrect and may result from incorrectly substituting values of x in the
given function or making computational errors.
Question Difficulty: Medium
Question ID 2.8
c651cc56
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Math Algebra Linear functions
ID: c651cc56
Some values of the linear function f are shown in the
table above. What is the value of ?
A. 6
B. 7
C. 8
D. 9
ID: c651cc56 Answer
Correct Answer: B
Rationale
Choice B is correct. A linear function has a constant rate of change, and any two rows of the
table shown can be used to calculate this rate. From the first row to the second, the value of
x is increased by 2 and the value of is increased by . So the values of increase by 3
for every increase by 1 in the value of x.
Since , it follows that . Therefore, .
Choice A is incorrect. This is the third x-value in the table, not . Choices C and D are
incorrect and may result from errors when calculating the function’s rate of change.
Question Difficulty: Medium
Question ID 2.9
c22b5f25
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Math Algebra Linear functions
ID: c22b5f25
In the xy-plane, the points and lie on the graph of
which of the following linear functions?
.
A
.
B
.
C
.
D
ID: c22b5f25 Answer
Correct Answer: C
Rationale
Choice C is correct. A linear function can be written in the form , where m is the
slope and b is the y-coordinate of the y-intercept of the line. The slope of the graph can be found
using the formula . Substituting the values of the given points into this formula
yields or , which simplifies to . Only choice C shows an equation
with this slope.
Choices A, B, and D are incorrect and may result from computation errors or misinterpreting
the given information.
Question Difficulty: Medium
Question ID 2.1
0
11e1ab81
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Math Algebra Linear functions
ID: 11e1ab81
The graph above shows the distance traveled d, in feet, by a
product on a conveyor belt m minutes after the product is placed
on the belt. Which of the following equations correctly relates d
and m ?
.
A
.
B
.
C
.
D
ID: 11e1ab81 Answer
Correct Answer: A
Rationale
Choice A is correct. The line passes through the origin. Therefore, this is a relationship of the
form ,
where k is a constant representing the slope of the graph. To find the value of k, choose a
point on
the
graph of the line other than the origin and substitute the values of m and d into the equation.
For example, if the point is chosen, then , and . Therefore, the equation of the
line is .
Choice B is incorrect and may result from calculating the slope of the line as the change in
Question ID 2.1
time over the change in distance traveled instead of the change in distance traveled over the1
11e1ab81
change in time. Choices C and D are incorrect because each of these equations represents a
line with a d-intercept of 2. However, the graph shows a line with a d-intercept of 0.
Question Difficulty: Medium
Question ID 2.12
4fe4fd7c
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Math Algebra Linear functions
ID: 4fe4fd7c
A companyʼs total cost , in dollars, to produce x shirts is given
by the function above, where m is a constant and . The total
cost to produce 100 shirts is $800. What is the total cost, in dollars, to
produce 1000 shirts? (Disregard the $ sign when gridding your
answer.)
ID: 4fe4fd7c Answer
Rationale
The correct answer is 3500. The given information includes a cost, $800, to produce 100 shirts.
Substituting and into the given equation yields . Subtracting 500
from both sides of
the equation yields . Dividing both sides of this equation by 100 yields . Substituting
the
value of m into the given equation yields . Substituting 1000 for x in this equation and
solving for gives the cost of 1000 shirts: , or 3500.
Question Difficulty: Medium
Question ID 2.13
3122fc7b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Math Algebra Linear functions
ID: 3122fc7b
A linear model estimates the population of a city from to . The model estimates the
population was thousand in , thousand in , and thousand in . To the nearest
whole number, what is the value of ?
ID: 3122fc7b Answer
Correct Answer: 257
Rationale
The correct answer is . It’s given that a linear model estimates the population of a city from
to . Since the population can be estimated using a linear model, it follows that there
is a constant rate of change for the model. It’s also given that the model estimates the
population was thousand in , thousand in , and thousand in . The change in
the population between and is , or , thousand. The change in the number of
years between and is , or , years. Dividing by gives , or ,
thousand per year. Thus, the change in population per year from to estimated by the
model is thousand. The change in the number of years between and is ,
or , years. Multiplying the change in population per year by the change in number of years
yields the increase in population from to estimated by the model: , or ,
thousand.
Adding the change in population from to estimated by the model to the estimated
population in
yields the estimated population in . Thus, the estimated population in is , or
, thousand. Therefore to the nearest whole number, the value of is .
Question Difficulty: Medium
Question ID 2.14
c01f4a95
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Math Algebra Linear functions
ID: c01f4a95
For the linear function , is a constant and . What is the value of ?
ID: c01f4a95 Answer
Correct Answer: 39
Rationale
The correct answer is . It’s given that for the linear function , is a constant and
. Substituting for and for in the given equation yields
. Subtracting from both sides of this equation yields . Dividing both
sides of this equation by yields .
Substituting for in the given equation, , yields .
Substituting for in this equation yields , or . Therefore, the value of
is .
Question Difficulty: Medium
Question ID 2.15
868fc236
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Math Algebra Linear functions
ID: 868fc236
The table above gives the typical amounts of energy per gram,
expressed in both food calories and kilojoules, of the three
macronutrients in food. If x food calories is equivalent to k kilojoules,
of the following, which best represents the relationship between x
and k ?
.
A
.
B
.
C
.
D
ID: 868fc236 Answer
Correct Answer: B
Rationale
Choice B is correct. The relationship between x food calories and k kilojoules can be modeled
as a proportional relationship. Let and represent the values in the first two rows
in the table: and
. The rate of change, or , is ; therefore, the equation that best
represents the relationship between x and k is .
Choice A is incorrect and may be the result of calculating the rate of change using .
Choice C is
incorrect because the number of kilojoules is greater than the number of food calories.
Choice D is incorrect and may be the result of an error when setting up the equation.
Question ID 2.16
Question Difficulty: Medium
868fc236
Question ID 2.17
042aa429
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Math Algebra Linear functions
ID: 042aa429
If and , what is the value of
? A.
B.
C.
D.
ID: 042aa429 Answer
Correct Answer: C
Rationale
Choice C is correct. The value of can be found by substituting for in the given equation
, which yields , or . The value of can be found by
substituting for in the given equation , which yields , or
. The value of the expression can be found by
substituting the corresponding values into the expression, which gives . This expression
is equivalent to , or .
Choice A is incorrect. This is the value of , not .
Choice B is incorrect and may result from calculating as , rather
than .
Choice D is incorrect and may result from conceptual or
calculation errors. Question Difficulty: Medium
Question ID 2.18
113b938e
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Math Algebra Linear functions
ID: 113b938e
The equation above represents the speed y, in feet per second, of
Sheilaʼs bicycle x seconds after she applied the brakes at the end of a
ride. If the equation is graphed in the xy-plane, which of the
following is the best interpretation of the x-coordinate of the lineʼs x-
intercept in the context of the problem?
A. The speed of Sheilaʼs bicycle, in feet per second, before Sheila applied the brakes
B. The number of feet per second the speed of Sheilaʼs bicycle decreased each second after Sheila
applied the brakes
C. The number of seconds it took from the time Sheila began applying the brakes until the bicycle
came to a complete stop
D. The number of feet Sheilaʼs bicycle traveled from the time she began applying the brakes until the
bicycle came to a complete stop
ID: 113b938e Answer
Correct Answer: C
Rationale
Choice C is correct. It’s given that for each point on the graph of the given equation, the x-
coordinate represents the number of seconds after Sheila applied the brakes, and the y-
coordinate represents the speed of
Sheila’s bicycle at that moment in time. For the graph of the equation, the y-coordinate of the x-
intercept is 0. Therefore, the x-coordinate of the x-intercept of the graph of the given equation
represents the number of seconds it took from the time Sheila began applying the brakes
until the bicycle came to a complete stop.
Choice A is incorrect. The speed of Sheila’s bicycle before she applied the brakes is
represented by the y- coordinate of the y-intercept of the graph of the given equation, not the
x-coordinate of the x-intercept. Choice B is incorrect. The number of feet per second the
speed of Sheila’s bicycle decreased each second after Sheila applied the brakes is
represented by the slope of the graph of the given equation, not the x-coordinate of the x-
intercept. Choice D is incorrect and may result from misinterpreting x as the distance, in
feet, traveled after applying the brakes, rather than the time, in seconds, after applying the
brakes.
Question Difficulty: Medium
Question ID 2.19
441558e7
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Math Algebra Linear functions
ID: 441558e7
Scientists collected fallen acorns that each housed a colony of the ant species P. ohioensis and
analyzed each colony's structure. For any of these colonies, if the colony has worker ants,
the equation ,
where , gives the predicted number of larvae, , in the colony. If one of these
colonies has worker ants, which of the following is closest to the predicted number of larvae in the
colony?
A.
B.
C.
D.
ID: 441558e7 Answer
Correct Answer: A
Rationale
Choice A is correct. It's given that the equation , where , gives the
predicted number of larvae, , in a colony of ants if the colony has worker ants. If one of these
colonies has worker ants, the predicted number of larvae in that colony can be found by
substituting for in the given equation. Substituting for in the given equation yields
, or . Of the given choices, is closest to the predicted number of
larvae in the colony.
Choice B is incorrect. This is closest to the predicted number of larvae in a colony with worker
ants.
Choice C is incorrect. This is closest to the number of worker ants for which the predicted
number of larvae in a colony is .
Choice D is incorrect. This is closest to the predicted number of larvae in a colony with
worker ants. Question Difficulty: Medium
Question ID 2.20
8a6de407
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Math Algebra Linear functions
ID: 8a6de407
The function f is defined by , where m and b are
constants. If and , what is the value of m ?
ID: 8a6de407 Answer
Rationale
The correct answer is 2. The slope-intercept form of an equation for a line is , where m is the
slope and b is the y-coordinate of the y-intercept. Two ordered pairs, and , can be
used to compute the
slope using the formula . It’s given that and ; therefore, the two
ordered pairs for this line are and . Substituting these values for and
gives , or 2.
Question Difficulty: Medium
Question ID 2.21
41fdc0b8
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty
SAT Math Algebra Linear functions
ID: 41fdc0b8
The table above shows the population of Greenleaf, Idaho, for the years 2000 and 2010. If the relationship
between population and year is linear, which of the following functions P models the population of
Greenleaf t years after 2000?
.
A
.
B
.
C
.
D
ID: 41fdc0b8 Answer
Correct Answer: A
Rationale
Choice A is correct. It is given that the relationship between population and year is linear; therefore,
the
function that models the population t years after 2000 is of the form , where m is
the slope and b is the population when . In the year 2000, . Therefore, . The slope is
given by
. Therefore, , which is equivalent to the
equation in choice A.
Choice B is incorrect and may be the result of incorrectly calculating the slope as just the
change in the value of P. Choice C is incorrect and may be the result of the same error as in
choice B, in addition to incorrectly using t to represent the year, instead of the number of
years after 2000. Choice D is incorrect and may be the result of incorrectly using t to
represent the year instead of the number of years after 2000.
Question Difficulty: Medium
