Question ID c8345903

Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Circles

Trigonometry

ID: c8345903

The circle above has center O, the length of arc is , and

. What is the length of arc ?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: c8345903 Answer

Correct Answer:
B
Rationale
Choice B is correct. The ratio of the lengths of two arcs of a circle is equal to the ratio of the measures of the central
angles that subtend the arcs. It’s given that arc is subtended by a central angle with measure 100°. Since the sum

of the measures of the angles about a point is 360°, it follows that arc is subtended by a central angle with

measure . If s is the length of arc , then s must satisfy the ratio . Reducing the

fraction to its simplest form gives . Therefore, . Multiplying both sides of by

yields .

Choice A is incorrect. This is the length of an arc consisting of exactly half of the circle, but arc is greater than half
of the circle. Choice C is incorrect. This is the total circumference of the circle. Choice D is incorrect. This is half the
length of arc , not its full length.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID bd87bc09
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Right triangles and

Trigonometry trigonometry

ID: bd87bc09

Triangle above is a right triangle, and .

What is the length of side ?

ID: bd87bc09 Answer

Rationale
The correct answer is 24. The sine of an acute angle in a right triangle is equal to the ratio of the length of the side
opposite the angle to the length of the hypotenuse. In the triangle shown, the sine of angle B, or , is equal to the

ratio of the length of side to the length of side . It’s given that the length of side is 26 and that .

Therefore, . Multiplying both sides of this equation by 26 yields .

By the Pythagorean Theorem, the relationship between the lengths of the sides of triangle ABC is as follows:
, or . Subtracting 100 from both sides of yields .

Taking the square root of both sides of yields .

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 58c26db8
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Right triangles and

Trigonometry trigonometry

ID: 58c26db8

The perimeter of an isosceles right triangle is inches. What is the length, in inches, of the hypotenuse of this
triangle?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: 58c26db8 Answer

Correct Answer:
C
Rationale
Choice C is correct. The perimeter of a triangle is the sum of the lengths of its sides. Since the given triangle is an
isosceles right triangle, the length of each leg is the same and the length of the hypotenuse is equal to times the
length of a leg. Let represent the length, in inches, of a leg of this isosceles right triangle. Therefore, the perimeter, in
inches, of the triangle is , or , which is equivalent to . It's given that the perimeter

of this triangle is inches. Thus, . Dividing both sides of this equation by

yields . Multiplying the right-hand side of this equation by yields , or

. It follows that the length, in inches, of a leg of this isosceles right triangle is . Therefore, the length, in
inches, of the hypotenuse of this isosceles right triangle is , or .

Choice A is incorrect. If this were the length of the hypotenuse, the perimeter would be inches.

Choice B is incorrect. This is the length, in inches, of a leg of this triangle, not the hypotenuse.

Choice D is incorrect. If this were the length of the hypotenuse, the perimeter would be inches.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 35d37640
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Circles

Trigonometry

ID: 35d37640

Point lies on a unit circle in the xy-plane and has coordinates . Point is the center of the circle and has
coordinates . Point also lies on the circle and has coordinates , where is a constant. Which of the
following could be the positive measure of angle , in radians?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: 35d37640 Answer

Correct Answer:
D
Rationale
Choice D is correct. It's given that the circle is a unit circle, which means the circle has a radius of . It's also given that
point is the center of the circle and has coordinates and that point lies on the circle and has coordinates
. Since the radius of the circle is , the value of must be , as all other points with an x-coordinate of are a
distance greater than away from point . Since and are points on the unit circle centered at , let side be
the starting side of the angle and side be the terminal side of the angle. Since side is on the positive x-axis and
side is on the negative x-axis, side is half of a rotation around the unit circle, or radians, away from side .
Therefore, the positive measure of angle , in radians, is equal to plus an integer multiple of . In other words,
the positive measure of angle , in radians, is an odd integer multiple of . Of the given choices, only is an odd
integer multiple of .

Choice A is incorrect. This could be the positive measure of an angle where the starting side is and the terminal side
contains the point , not .

Choice B is incorrect. This could be the positive measure of an angle where the starting side is and the terminal side
contains the point , not .

Choice C is incorrect. This could be the positive measure of an angle where the starting side is and the terminal side
contains the point , not .

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 2266984b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Circles

Trigonometry

ID: 2266984b

The equation above defines a circle in the xy-plane. What are the
coordinates of the center of the circle?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: 2266984b Answer

Correct Answer:
B
Rationale

Choice B is correct. The standard equation of a circle in the xy-plane is of the form , where
are the coordinates of the center of the circle and r is the radius. The given equation can be rewritten in standard form by
completing the squares. So the sum of the first two terms, , needs a 100 to complete the square, and the sum

of the second two terms, , needs a 64 to complete the square. Adding 100 and 64 to both sides of the given

equation yields , which is equivalent to

. Therefore, the coordinates of the center of the circle are .

Choices A, C, and D are incorrect and may result from computational errors made when attempting to complete the
squares or when identifying the coordinates of the center.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 1429dcdf
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Right triangles and

Trigonometry trigonometry

ID: 1429dcdf

In the triangle shown, what is the value of ?

ID: 1429dcdf Answer

Correct Answer:
.6956, .6957, 16/23
Rationale
The correct answer is . In a right triangle, the sine of an acute angle is defined as the ratio of the length of the side
opposite the angle to the length of the hypotenuse. In the triangle shown, the length of the side opposite the angle with
measure is units and the length of the hypotenuse is units. Therefore, the value of is . Note that
16/23, .6956, .6957, 0.695, and 0.696 are examples of ways to enter a correct answer.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 69b0d79d
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Circles

Trigonometry

ID: 69b0d79d

Point O is the center of the circle above, and the measure of is . If

the length of is 18, what is the length of arc ?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: 69b0d79d Answer

Correct Answer:
B
Rationale
Choice B is correct. Because segments OA and OB are radii of the circle centered at point O, these segments have equal
lengths. Therefore, triangle AOB is an isosceles triangle, where angles OAB and OBA are congruent base angles of the
triangle. It’s given that angle OAB measures . Therefore, angle OBA also measures . Let represent the
measure of angle AOB. Since the sum of the measures of the three angles of any triangle is , it follows that
, or . Subtracting from both sides of this equation yields , or

radians. Therefore, the measure of angle AOB, and thus the measure of arc , is radians. Since is a

radius of the given circle and its length is 18, the length of the radius of the circle is 18. Therefore, the length of arc

can be calculated as , or .

Choices A, C, and D are incorrect and may result from conceptual or computational errors.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 4c95c7d4
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Right triangles and

Trigonometry trigonometry

ID: 4c95c7d4

A graphic designer is creating a logo for a company. The logo is shown in the
figure above. The logo is in the shape of a trapezoid and consists of
three congruent equilateral triangles. If the perimeter of the logo is
20 centimeters, what is the combined area of the shaded regions, in square
centimeters, of the logo?

A.

B.

C.

D. 16

ID: 4c95c7d4 Answer

Correct Answer:
C
Rationale
Choice C is correct. It’s given that the logo is in the shape of a trapezoid that consists of three congruent equilateral
triangles, and that the perimeter of the trapezoid is 20 centimeters (cm). Since the perimeter of the trapezoid is the sum

of the lengths of 5 of the sides of the triangles, the length of each side of an equilateral triangle is . Dividing
up one equilateral triangle into two right triangles yields a pair of congruent 30°-60°-90° triangles. The shorter leg of each
right triangle is half the length of the side of an equilateral triangle, or 2 cm. Using the Pythagorean Theorem,
, the height of the equilateral triangle can be found. Substituting and and solving for b yields

cm. The area of one equilateral triangle is , where and . Therefore, the

area of one equilateral triangle is . The shaded area consists of two such triangles, so its area

is .

Alternate approach: The area of a trapezoid can be found by evaluating the expression , where is the
length of one base, is the length of the other base, and h is the height of the trapezoid. Substituting , ,
and yields the expression , or , which gives an area of for the

trapezoid. Since two-thirds of the trapezoid is shaded, the area of the shaded region is .

Choice A is incorrect. This is the height of the trapezoid. Choice B is incorrect. This is the area of one of the equilateral
triangles, not two. Choice D is incorrect and may result from using a height of 4 for each triangle rather than the height of
.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID b8a225ff
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Circles

Trigonometry

ID: b8a225ff

Circle A in the xy-plane has the equation . Circle B has the same center as circle A. The radius
of circle B is two times the radius of circle A. The equation defining circle B in the xy-plane is ,
where is a constant. What is the value of ?

ID: b8a225ff Answer

Correct Answer:
16
Rationale
The correct answer is . An equation of a circle in the xy-plane can be written as , where the
center of the circle is , the radius of the circle is , and where , , and are constants. It’s given that the equation
of circle A is , which is equivalent to . Therefore, the center of
circle A is and the radius of circle A is . It’s given that circle B has the same center as circle A and that the
radius of circle B is two times the radius of circle A. Therefore, the center of circle B is and the radius of circle B
is , or . Substituting for , for , and for into the equation yields
, which is equivalent to . It follows that the equation of circle B in
the xy-plane is . Therefore, the value of is .

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID ab176ad6
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Circles

Trigonometry

ID: ab176ad6

The equation defines a circle in the

xy‑plane. What is the radius of the circle?

ID: ab176ad6 Answer

Rationale

The correct answer is 11. A circle with equation , where a, b, and r are constants, has center

and radius r. Therefore, the radius of the given circle is , or 11.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 3e577e4a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Circles

Trigonometry

ID: 3e577e4a

A circle in the xy-plane has its center at . Line is tangent to this circle at the point . What is the
slope of line ?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: 3e577e4a Answer

Correct Answer:
A
Rationale
Choice A is correct. A line that's tangent to a circle is perpendicular to the radius of the circle at the point of tangency. It's
given that the circle has its center at and line is tangent to the circle at the point . The slope of a
radius defined by the points and can be calculated as . The points and define the
radius of the circle at the point of tangency. Therefore, the slope of this radius can be calculated as , or . If a
line and a radius are perpendicular, the slope of the line must be the negative reciprocal of the slope of the radius. The
negative reciprocal of is . Thus, the slope of line is .

Choice B is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors.

Choice C is incorrect. This is the slope of the radius of the circle at the point of tangency, not the slope of line .

Choice D is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID fa2771d5
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Circles

Trigonometry

ID: fa2771d5

Circle A has equation . In the -plane, circle B is obtained by translating circle A to the right
units. Which equation represents circle B?

A. msup

B. msup

C. msup

D. msup

ID: fa2771d5 Answer

Correct Answer:
C
Rationale
Choice C is correct. The equation of a circle in the xy-plane can be written as , where the
center of the circle is and the radius of the circle is units. It’s given that circle A has the equation
, which can be written as . It follows that , ,
and . Therefore, the center of circle A is and its radius is unit. If circle A is translated units to the right,
the x-coordinate of the center will increase by , while the y-coordinate and the radius of the circle will remain
unchanged. Translating the center of circle A to the right units yields , or . Therefore, the center of
circle B is . Substituting for , for , and for into the equation yields
, or . Therefore, the equation
represents circle B.

Choice A is incorrect. This equation represents a circle obtained by shifting circle A down, rather than right, units.

Choice B is incorrect. This equation represents a circle obtained by shifting circle A left, rather than right, units.

Choice D is incorrect. This equation represents a circle obtained by shifting circle A up, rather than right, units.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 55bb437a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Right triangles and

Trigonometry trigonometry

ID: 55bb437a

In the figure above, . If and

, what is the length of ?

ID: 55bb437a Answer

Rationale

The correct answer is 6. Since , and are both similar to 3-4-5 triangles. This means that
they are both similar to the right triangle with sides of lengths 3, 4, and 5. Since , which is 3 times as long as the

hypotenuse of the 3-4-5 triangle, the similarity ratio of to the 3-4-5 triangle is 3:1. Therefore, the length of

(the side opposite to ) is , and the length of (the side adjacent to ) is . It is also given
that . Since and , it follows that , which means that the similarity ratio of

to the 3-4-5 triangle is 2:1 ( is the side adjacent to ). Therefore, the length of , which is the side
opposite to , is .

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 9e44284b
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Circles

Trigonometry

ID: 9e44284b

In the xy-plane, the graph of is a

circle. What is the radius of the circle?

A. 5

B. 6.5

C.

D.

ID: 9e44284b Answer

Correct Answer:
A
Rationale
Choice A is correct. One way to find the radius of the circle is to rewrite the given equation in standard form,
, where is the center of the circle and the radius of the circle is r. To do this, divide the

original equation, , by 2 to make the leading coefficients of and each equal to 1:

. Then complete the square to put the equation in standard form. To do so, first rewrite

as . Second, add 2.25 and 0.25 to

both sides of the equation: . Since ,

, and , it follows that . Therefore, the radius of the circle is

5.

Choices B, C, and D are incorrect and may be the result of errors in manipulating the equation or of a misconception
about the standard form of the equation of a circle in the xy-plane.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 568d66a7
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Right triangles and

Trigonometry trigonometry

ID: 568d66a7

An isosceles right triangle has a perimeter of inches. What is the length, in inches, of one leg of this triangle?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: 568d66a7 Answer

Correct Answer:
B
Rationale
Choice B is correct. It's given that the right triangle is isosceles. In an isosceles right triangle, the two legs have equal
lengths, and the length of the hypotenuse is times the length of one of the legs. Let 𝓁 represent the length, in inches,
of each leg of the isosceles right triangle. It follows that the length of the hypotenuse is 𝓁 inches. The perimeter of a
figure is the sum of the lengths of the sides of the figure. Therefore, the perimeter of the isosceles right triangle is
𝓁 𝓁 𝓁 inches. It's given that the perimeter of the triangle is inches. It follows that
𝓁 𝓁 𝓁 . Factoring the left-hand side of this equation yields 𝓁 , or

𝓁 . Dividing both sides of this equation by yields 𝓁 . Rationalizing the

denominator of the right-hand side of this equation by multiplying the right-hand side of the equation by yields

𝓁 . Applying the distributive property to the numerator and to the denominator of the right-hand side

of this equation yields 𝓁 . This is equivalent to 𝓁 , or 𝓁 . Therefore, the length,

in inches, of one leg of the isosceles right triangle is .

Choice A is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors.

Choice C is incorrect. This is the length, in inches, of the hypotenuse.

Choice D is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 0e709a29
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Right triangles and

Trigonometry trigonometry

ID: 0e709a29

The side lengths of right triangle are given. Triangle is similar to triangle , where corresponds to
and corresponds to . What is the value of ?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: 0e709a29 Answer

Correct Answer:
D
Rationale
Choice D is correct. The hypotenuse of triangle is the longest side and is across from the right angle. The longest
side length given is , which is the length of side . Therefore, the hypotenuse of triangle is side , so the
right angle is angle . The tangent of an acute angle in a right triangle is the ratio of the length of the opposite side,
which is the side across from the angle, to the length of the adjacent side, which is the side closest to the angle that is
not the hypotenuse. It follows that the opposite side of angle is side and the adjacent side of angle is side .
Therefore, . Substituting for and for in this equation yields . This is
equivalent to . It’s given that triangle is similar to triangle , where corresponds to and
corresponds to . It follows that corresponds to . Therefore, the hypotenuse of triangle is side , which
means . Since the lengths of corresponding sides of similar triangles are proportional, .
Therefore, is equivalent to , or . Thus, .

Choice A is incorrect. This is the value of , not .

Choice B is incorrect. This is the value of , not .

Choice C is incorrect. This is the value of , not .

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 2855cb58
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Circles

Trigonometry

ID: 2855cb58

A circle in the xy-plane has its center at and has a radius of . Which equation represents this circle?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: 2855cb58 Answer

Correct Answer:
B
Rationale
Choice B is correct. The equation of a circle in the xy-plane can be written as , where the
center of the circle is and the radius of the circle is . It’s given that this circle has a center at and a
radius of . Substituting for , for , and for in yields
, or . Therefore, the equation that represents this
circle is .

Choice A is incorrect. This equation represents a circle with radius , not .

Choice C is incorrect. This equation represents a circle with radius , not .

Choice D is incorrect. This equation represents a circle with radius , not .

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 1b2b20b9
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Circles

Trigonometry

ID: 1b2b20b9

Circle A shown is defined by the equation . Circle B (not shown) has the same radius but is translated
units to the right. If the equation of circle B is , where , , and are constants, what is the
value of ?

ID: 1b2b20b9 Answer

Correct Answer:
28
Rationale
The correct answer is . The equation of a circle in the xy-plane can be written as , where
the center of the circle is and the radius of the circle is . It’s given that circle A is defined by the equation

, which can be written as . It follows that and the radius of

circle A is . It’s also given that circle B has the same radius as circle A. If the equation of circle B is

, then . Substituting for in this equation yields , or . It follows

that the value of is , or .

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 6933b3d9
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Right triangles and

Trigonometry trigonometry

ID: 6933b3d9

In triangle RST above, point W (not shown) lies on . What is the

value of ?

ID: 6933b3d9 Answer

Rationale

The correct answer is 0. Note that no matter where point W is on , the sum of the measures of and

is equal to the measure of , which is . Thus, and are complementary angles. Since the
cosine of an angle is equal to the sine of its complementary angle, . Therefore,

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 6ab30ce3
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Right triangles and

Trigonometry trigonometry

ID: 6ab30ce3

Triangle is similar to triangle , where corresponds to and corresponds to . Angles and are
right angles. If and , what is the length of ?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: 6ab30ce3 Answer

Correct Answer:
D
Rationale
Choice D is correct. Corresponding angles in similar triangles have equal measures. It's given that triangle is
similar to triangle , where corresponds to , so the measure of angle is equal to the measure of angle .
Therefore, if , then . It's given that angles and are right angles, so triangles and
are right triangles. The adjacent side of an acute angle in a right triangle is the side closest to the angle that is not
the hypotenuse. It follows that the adjacent side of angle is side . The opposite side of an acute angle in a right
triangle is the side across from the acute angle. It follows that the opposite side of angle is side . The tangent of
an acute angle in a right triangle is the ratio of the length of the opposite side to the length of the adjacent side.
Therefore, . If , the length of side can be found by substituting for and
for in the equation , which yields . Multiplying both sides of this equation by yields
. Since the length of side is times the length of side , it follows that triangle is a
special right triangle with angle measures , , and . Therefore, the length of the hypotenuse, , is times the
length of side , or . Substituting for in this equation yields , or .
Thus, if and , the length of is .

Choice A is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors.

Choice B is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors.

Choice C is incorrect. This is the length of , not .

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID ca2235f6
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Circles

Trigonometry

ID: ca2235f6

A circle has center , and points and lie on the circle. The measure of arc is and the length of arc is
inches. What is the circumference, in inches, of the circle?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: ca2235f6 Answer

Correct Answer:
D
Rationale
Choice D is correct. It’s given that the measure of arc is and the length of arc is . The arc measure
of the full circle is . If represents the circumference, in inches, of the circle, it follows that . This
equation is equivalent to , or . Multiplying both sides of this equation by yields , or
. Therefore, the circumference of the circle is .

Choice A is incorrect. This is the length of arc .

Choice B is incorrect and may result from multiplying the length of arc by .

Choice C is incorrect and may result from squaring the length of arc .

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 981275d2
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Circles

Trigonometry

ID: 981275d2

In the xy-plane, the graph of the equation above is a circle. Point P is on the
circle and has coordinates . If is a diameter of the circle, what are
the coordinates of point Q ?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: 981275d2 Answer

Correct Answer:
A
Rationale

Choice A is correct. The standard form for the equation of a circle is , where are the
coordinates of the center and r is the length of the radius. According to the given equation, the center of the circle is
. Let represent the coordinates of point Q. Since point P and point Q are the endpoints

of a diameter of the circle, the center lies on the diameter, halfway between P and Q. Therefore, the following

relationships hold: and . Solving the equations for and , respectively, yields

and . Therefore, the coordinates of point Q are .

Alternate approach: Since point P on the circle and the center of the circle have the same y-coordinate,

it follows that the radius of the circle is . In addition, the opposite end of the diameter must have the same

y-coordinate as P and be 4 units away from the center. Hence, the coordinates of point Q must be .

Choices B and D are incorrect because the points given in these choices lie on a diameter that is perpendicular to the
diameter . If either of these points were point Q, then would not be the diameter of the circle. Choice C is

incorrect because is the center of the circle and does not lie on the circle.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 89661424
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Circles

Trigonometry

ID: 89661424

A circle in the xy-plane has its center at and has a radius of . An equation of this circle is
, where , , and are constants. What is the value of ?

ID: 89661424 Answer

Correct Answer:
-52
Rationale
The correct answer is . The equation of a circle in the xy-plane with its center at and a radius of can be
written in the form . It's given that a circle in the xy-plane has its center at and has a
radius of . Substituting for , for , and for in the equation yields
, or . It's also given that an equation of this circle is
, where , , and are constants. Therefore, can be rewritten
in the form . The equation , or
, can be rewritten as .
Combining like terms on the left-hand side of this equation yields . Subtracting
from both sides of this equation yields , which is equivalent to
. This equation is in the form . Therefore, the
value of is .

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 7c25b0dc
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Right triangles and

Trigonometry trigonometry

ID: 7c25b0dc

The length of a rectangle’s diagonal is , and the length of the rectangle’s shorter side is . What is the length of the
rectangle’s longer side?

ID: 7c25b0dc Answer

Correct Answer:
12
Rationale
The correct answer is . The diagonal of a rectangle forms a right triangle, where the shorter side and the longer side of
the rectangle are the legs of the triangle and the diagonal of the rectangle is the hypotenuse of the triangle. It's given that
the length of the rectangle's diagonal is and the length of the rectangle's shorter side is . Thus, the length of the
hypotenuse of the right triangle formed by the diagonal is and the length of one of the legs is . By the
Pythagorean theorem, if a right triangle has a hypotenuse with length and legs with lengths and , then

. Substituting for and for in this equation yields , or . Subtracting

from both sides of this equation yields . Taking the square root of both sides of this equation yields
, or . Since represents a length, which must be positive, the value of is . Thus, the length of
the rectangle's longer side is .

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID fb58c0db
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Circles

Trigonometry

ID: fb58c0db

Points A and B lie on a circle with radius 1, and arc has length . What

fraction of the circumference of the circle is the length of arc ?

ID: fb58c0db Answer

Rationale

The correct answer is . The circumference, C, of a circle is , where r is the length of the radius of the circle.

For the given circle with a radius of 1, the circumference is , or . To find what fraction of the

circumference the length of arc is, divide the length of the arc by the circumference, which gives . This

division can be represented by . Note that 1/6, .1666, .1667, 0.166, and 0.167 are examples of ways to
enter a correct answer.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID c6dff223
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Right triangles and

Trigonometry trigonometry

ID: c6dff223

Triangle is similar to triangle , where angle corresponds to angle and angles and are right angles.
The length of is times the length of . If , what is the value of ?

ID: c6dff223 Answer

Correct Answer:
.7241, 21/29
Rationale
The correct answer is . It's given that triangle is similar to triangle , where angle corresponds to angle
and angles and are right angles. In similar triangles, the tangents of corresponding angles are equal. Therefore, if
, then . In a right triangle, the tangent of an acute angle is the ratio of the length of the leg
opposite the angle to the length of the leg adjacent to the angle. Therefore, in triangle , if , the ratio of
the length of to the length of is . If the lengths of and are and , respectively, then the ratio of
the length of to the length of is . In a right triangle, the sine of an acute angle is the ratio of the length of the
leg opposite the angle to the length of the hypotenuse. Therefore, the value of is the ratio of the length of to
the length of . The length of can be calculated using the Pythagorean theorem, which states that if the lengths
of the legs of a right triangle are and and the length of the hypotenuse is , then . Therefore, if the
lengths of and are and , respectively, then , or . Taking the
positive square root of both sides of this equation yields . Therefore, if the lengths of and are and
, respectively, then the length of is and the ratio of the length of to the length of is . Thus, if
, the value of is . Note that 21/29, .7241, and 0.724 are examples of ways to enter a correct
answer.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 92eb236a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Right triangles and

Trigonometry trigonometry

ID: 92eb236a

In a right triangle, the tangent of one of the two acute angles is . What
is the tangent of the other acute angle?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: 92eb236a Answer

Correct Answer:
D
Rationale
Choice D is correct. The tangent of a nonright angle in a right triangle is defined as the ratio of the length of the leg
opposite the angle to the length of the leg adjacent to the angle. Using that definition for tangent, in a right triangle with

legs that have lengths a and b, the tangent of one acute angle is and the tangent for the other acute angle is . It
follows that the tangents of the acute angles in a right triangle are reciprocals of each other. Therefore, the tangent of the

other acute angle in the given triangle is the reciprocal of or .

Choice A is incorrect and may result from assuming that the tangent of the other acute angle is the negative of the
tangent of the angle described. Choice B is incorrect and may result from assuming that the tangent of the other acute
angle is the negative of the reciprocal of the tangent of the angle described. Choice C is incorrect and may result from
interpreting the tangent of the other acute angle as equal to the tangent of the angle described.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID a67b9f88
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Right triangles and

Trigonometry trigonometry

ID: a67b9f88

In the triangle shown, . What is the value of ?

ID: a67b9f88 Answer

Correct Answer:
.9811, 52/53
Rationale
The correct answer is . In a right triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the
squares of the lengths of the two legs. The length of the hypotenuse of the right triangle shown is . It’s given that
. Therefore, the length of one of the legs of the triangle shown is . Let represent , the length of

the other leg of the triangle shown. Therefore, , or . Subtracting from

both sides of this equation yields . Taking the positive square root of both sides of this equation yields
. Therefore, , the length of the other leg of the triangle shown, is . The sine of an acute angle in a right
triangle is defined as the ratio of the length of the leg opposite the angle to the length of the hypotenuse. The length of
the leg opposite angle is , and the length of the hypotenuse is . Therefore, the value of is . Note that
52/53 or .9811 are examples of ways to enter a correct answer.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 2be01bd9
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Right triangles and

Trigonometry trigonometry

ID: 2be01bd9

Triangle is similar to triangle , where angle corresponds to angle and angle corresponds to angle .
Angles and are right angles. If , what is the value of ?

ID: 2be01bd9 Answer

Correct Answer:
.14, 7/50
Rationale
The correct answer is . It's given that triangle is similar to triangle , where angle corresponds to angle
and angle corresponds to angle . In similar triangles, the tangents of corresponding angles are equal. Since angle
and angle are corresponding angles, if , then . It's also given that angles and are
right angles. It follows that triangle is a right triangle with acute angles and . The tangent of one acute angle
in a right triangle is the inverse of the tangent of the other acute angle in the triangle. Therefore, .
Substituting for in this equation yields , or . Thus, if , the value
of is . Note that 7/50 and .14 are examples of ways to enter a correct answer.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID dba6a25a
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Right triangles and

Trigonometry trigonometry

ID: dba6a25a

In the figure above, is parallel to .

What is the length of ?

ID: dba6a25a Answer

Rationale

The correct answer is 30. In the figure given, since is parallel to and both segments are intersected by , then
angle BDC and angle AEC are corresponding angles and therefore congruent. Angle BCD and angle ACE are also
congruent because they are the same angle. Triangle BCD and triangle ACE are similar because if two angles of one
triangle are congruent to two angles of another triangle, the triangles are similar. Since triangle BCD and triangle ACE are
similar, their corresponding sides are proportional. So in triangle BCD and triangle ACE, corresponds to and

corresponds to . Therefore, . Since triangle BCD is a right triangle, the Pythagorean theorem can be

used to give the value of CD: . Taking the square root of each side gives . Substituting the values

in the proportion yields . Multiplying each side by CE, and then multiplying by yields

. Therefore, the length of is 30.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID acd30391
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Circles

Trigonometry

ID: acd30391

A circle in the xy-plane has equation . Which of the

following points does NOT lie in the interior of the circle?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: acd30391 Answer

Correct Answer:
D
Rationale

Choice D is correct. The circle with equation has center and radius 5. For a point to be
inside of the circle, the distance from that point to the center must be less than the radius, 5. The distance between

and is , which is greater than 5. Therefore, does NOT lie

in the interior of the circle.

Choice A is incorrect. The distance between and is ,

which is less than 5, and therefore lies in the interior of the circle. Choice B is incorrect because it is the center of

the circle. Choice C is incorrect because the distance between and is

, which is less than 5, and therefore in the interior of the circle.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 14e7c1f4
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Right triangles and

Trigonometry trigonometry

ID: 14e7c1f4

For two acute angles, and , . The measures, in degrees, of and are and
, respectively. What is the value of ?

A.

B.

C.

D.

ID: 14e7c1f4 Answer

Correct Answer:
A
Rationale
Choice A is correct. It's given that for two acute angles, and , . For two acute angles, if the
sine of one angle is equal to the cosine of the other angle, the angles are complementary. It follows that and are
complementary. That is, the sum of the measures of the angles is degrees. It's given that the measure of is
degrees and the measure of is degrees. It follows that . By combining
like terms, this equation can be rewritten as . Subtracting from each side of this equation yields
. Dividing each side of this equation by yields .

Choice B is incorrect. This would be the value of if rather than .

Choice C is incorrect. This would be the value of if rather than and if

were obtuse rather than acute.

Choice D is incorrect and may result from conceptual or calculation errors.

Question Difficulty:
Hard
Question ID 25da87f8
Assessment Test Domain Skill Difficulty

SAT Math Geometry and Right triangles and

Trigonometry trigonometry

ID: 25da87f8

A triangle with angle measures 30°, 60°, and 90° has a perimeter of .
What is the length of the longest side of the triangle?

ID: 25da87f8 Answer

Rationale
The correct answer is 12. It is given that the triangle has angle measures of 30°, 60°, and 90°, and so the triangle is a
special right triangle. The side measures of this type of special triangle are in the ratio . If x is the measure of the

shortest leg, then the measure of the other leg is and the measure of the hypotenuse is 2x. The perimeter of the

triangle is given to be , and so the equation for the perimeter can be written as .
Combining like terms and factoring out a common factor of x on the left-hand side of the equation gives
. Rewriting the right-hand side of the equation by factoring out 6 gives .

Dividing both sides of the equation by the common factor gives x = 6. The longest side of the right triangle, the
hypotenuse, has a length of 2x, or 2(6), which is 12.

Question Difficulty:
Hard