PrepPros

Algebra Skills Practice: Answers on page 326.

1. (𝑥 ' + 𝑥) + (𝑥 ! − 𝑥) 8. If 7 + 𝑥 = 13, what is the value of 28 + 4𝑥?
1 1
Which of the following is equivalent to the
expression above?

A) 𝑥3
B) 𝑥' + 𝑥! − 𝑥%
C) 𝑥' + 𝑥! 9. Which value of 𝑥 satisfies the equation below?
D) 𝑥 $% 1
3(5𝑥 − 20) − (5𝑥 − 60) = 80
2. If 3(𝑥 + 5) = 16, what does 𝑥 equal?
1

z
$
A)
!
B) 1

Tu
C) 3
$ 10. The solution set of 3 − 5𝑥 ≥ −22 is the set of
D) 5! 1 all real values of 𝑥 such that:

1 3. If 4𝑥 − 18 = 14, what is the value of 𝑥? A) 𝑥 ≥ −5

B) 𝑥 ≤ −5
A) −1 C) 𝑥 ≥5
B) 4 D) 𝑥 ≤5
C) 8
SA
D) 12 " 3
11. If = 8, what is the value of ?
1 3 "

1 4. If 3𝑥 = 36, what is the value of 4𝑥 − 6 ?

A) 6
B) 12
C) 30
D) 42
12. If 3𝑥 + 4 = 4𝑥 − 1, what is the value of
1 2𝑥 + 3 ?
D

1 5. If 𝑥 % + 4 = 40, what does 𝑥 % − 8 equal?

A) 24 A) 5
B) 28 B) 8
C) 30 C) 13
D) 17
@

D) 36
$& 13. Which expression is equivalent to
6. If 𝑥 = 3 in the equation 𝑥 − = 0, what is 1 (𝑥 % + 5) − (−2𝑥 % − 2) ?
1 -
the value of 𝑏?
A) – 𝑥% + 3
B) – 𝑥% + 7
C) 3𝑥 % + 3
D) 3𝑥 % + 7
1 7. Which expression is equivalent to
(3𝑥 % − 2𝑥 + 5) − (−2𝑥 % + 3𝑥 − 2) ? 14. If 13(𝑥 + 7) = 9(𝑥 + 7) + 36, what is the
2 value of 4(𝑥 + 7) ?
A) 𝑥% + 𝑥 + 3
B) 𝑥 % − 5𝑥 + 7
C) 5𝑥 % + 𝑥 + 3
D) 5𝑥 % − 5𝑥 + 7
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 Chapter 5: Algebra Skills

15. If 𝑥 = −1 and 𝑦 = 3, what is the value of 20. If 5(3𝑥 − 3) − 2(2𝑥 − 4) = 5(2𝑥 + 2), what
1 2
𝑥 ! + 2𝑥 % 𝑦 − 5𝑥𝑦 % + 3𝑦 ? is the value of 𝑥?

A) −43
B) −1
C) 47
D) 59
21. Which of the following is equivalent to the 2
16. What is the value of 𝑥 in the equation below? 1 expression below?
%" &
!
=5 (𝑥 % 𝑦 % − 4𝑥 ! + 2𝑥𝑦 % ) − (2𝑥 % 𝑦 % + 2𝑥 ! − 3𝑥𝑦 % )
&
A) ' A) 3𝑥𝑦 % + 6𝑥 ! − 𝑥𝑦 %

z
8
B) B) −𝑥 % 𝑦 % + 2𝑥 ! − 5𝑥𝑦 %
&
& C) −𝑥 % 𝑦 % − 6𝑥 ! + 5𝑥𝑦 %
C) 8 D) 𝑥 % 𝑦 % + 6𝑥 ! − 3𝑥𝑦 %

Tu
'
D) &
22. If 5𝑥 + 4 = 9, what is the value of 20𝑥 + 16 ? 1
,
17. If 𝑥 − 𝑦 = 14 and ! = 12, what is the value 2 A) 36
of 𝑥? B) 45
C) 53
A) 12 D) 58
B) 24
SA
C) 36 % "
23. Given that = 10 and = 8, what is the value
D) 50 " ,
2
of 𝑦?
$
"#' A)
'(
18. If = 𝑘 and 𝑘 = 2, what is the value of 𝑥?
' 2 $
B)
6
A) 2 C) 8
B) 4
D

C) 6 D) 40
D) 8
24. If √4𝑥 = 8, what is the value of 𝑥? 1
@

19. Which of the following inequalities describes

the solution set for 6𝑥 − 7 > 2𝑥 + 4 ? 1

!
A) 𝑥 > −
'
$$
25. Which of the following values of 𝑥 is the
B) 𝑥 > solution to the equation below? 2
6
$$
C) 𝑥 < '
𝑥 − 3 = √𝑥 + 17
$$
D) 𝑥 > ' A. −1
B. 1
C. 5
D. 8

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 PrepPros

2 26. Which of the following inequalities is 3 32. In the equation below, what is the value of
equivalent to −2𝑎 − 8𝑏 > 30𝑎 − 48 ? 𝑥−2?
!#
A) 𝑏 > 4𝑎 − 6 𝑥−2= "+%
B) 𝑏 < 4𝑎 + 6
C) 𝑏 < −4𝑎 + 6 A) 1
D) 𝑏 > −4𝑎 + 6 B) 3
C) 5
27. If √𝑥 − 3 = 𝑥 − 3, what value(s) of 𝑥 solve the D) 9
3
equation?

3 33. If √3𝑥 + 10 = 𝑥 + 2, what is the value of 𝑥?

A) 1
B) 3

z
C) 4
D) 3, 4

Tu
2 28. Which of the following expressions is
%. &
equivalent to = ?
!- .#$

3 34. For the equation 3𝑥 % + 15 = 18, 𝑏 is a

A) 3𝑎 + 1 = 15𝑏 solution. If 𝑏 < 0, then 𝑏 =
B) 2𝑎% + 1 = 15𝑏
C) 2𝑎% + 2𝑎 = 15𝑏
D) 2𝑎% + 2𝑎 = 8𝑏
SA
-
29. If 𝑎𝑏 = 24 and = 2, what is the value of
1 ' 35. For the equation below, which of the following
𝑎−𝑏? 3 expresses 𝑎 in terms of 𝑏, and 𝑐?
.#-)#5)
A) −5 𝑎𝑏 = !
B) 3
C) 5 -)#5)
A)
D) 8 !-
-)#5)
D

B) !-+$
3 30. What value(s) of 𝑥 satisfy the equation below? .#-)#5)
C)
2(𝑥 − 3)% + 3 = 21 !-
!.+-)#5)
D)
!-#$
A) −3, 3
@

B) 3
C) 6
D) 0, 6 36. For the equation 𝑥 ! − 4𝑥 % + 3𝑥 − 12 = 0, 𝑥 is
3 an integer that solves the equation. What is the
3 31. Based on the equation below, what is the value value of 𝑥?
of 𝑎𝑥 − 𝑏 ?
5𝑎𝑥 − 5𝑏 − 7 = 28

A) 5
%6
B)
&
C) 7
D) 14

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 Chapter 5: Algebra Skills

6B $ 41. For the equation below, what is the value of

37. Given that the equation '-
= ! is true, 3 4
- 𝑥+3?
what is the value of ?
B 6"#%'
"#!
= 5𝑥 + 15

'"#, 6 ,
38. What value(s) of 𝑥 satisfy the equation 42. If = &, what is the value of " ?

z
%"#, 4
12𝑥 ! + 4𝑥 % − 3𝑥 − 1 = 0 ? 3
!
A)
$ '
A) − !

Tu
'
$
B) !
B) % &
$ $ C) 6
C) − % , %
6
$ $ $ D)
D) − % , − ! , % $!
SA
39. What is the solution to the equation below?
3 43. Which expression is equivalent to
$$"+%% 8"("+&)+'("+&) 4
"+%
=𝑥+5 , where 𝑥 > 5 ?
%"+$(

"+&
A) %
8"+'
B) %
8" # +'"#%(
C)
D

%"+$(
8" # +'"+%&
40. For the equation below, which of the following D)
expresses 𝑥 in terms of 𝑦, and 𝑧? 4 %"+$(

"7+7 #
𝑦=
@

"+$

7 # +,
A) 7+,
$#,
B)
7 # #,
,+7 #
C) 7#$
7 # #,
D) $+,

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 PrepPros

Chapter 6: Fractions
For success on the SAT, you need to be comfortable with fractions. Fractions are a topic that many students
struggle with. If you are one of those students, fear not! In this chapter, we cover all of the fundamental
techniques that will allow you to answer any question involving fractions quickly and efficiently.

1-4
1. Combining Fractions
To add or subtract fractions, we must make the denominators the same by finding the least common
multiple of the numbers or expressions in the denominators. For example, consider adding the fractions
below:
1 2
+
2 5

z
Here, the least common denominator is 10. An easy trick to find the least common denominator is to multiply
the numbers in the denominator together. For the fractions above, 2 × 5 = 10. Once we find the least
common denominator, we convert all fractions to have the same common denominator and then combine.

Tu
$ & % % & ' 8
%
×& + &
×% = $(
+ $( = $(

On the SAT, you will often see questions with expressions in the denominators instead of just numbers. These
are more difficult, but the concept and approach are the exact same.
$ !
Example 1: "
+ "+'

3 Which of the following is equivalent to the equation above for 𝑥 ≠ 0 and 𝑥 ≠ 4 ?

SA
'"+' ' '"+$% "+$
A) "("+')
B) %"+'
C) "+'
D) "("+')

Solution: To start, we need to find the common denominator. Here, the common denominator is the product
of the two denominators: 𝑥(𝑥 − 4). To make both terms have the same denominator, we need to multiply the
top and bottom of each fraction by the term they are missing in the denominator.
1 𝑥−4 3 𝑥 𝑥−4 3𝑥 𝑥 − 4 + 3𝑥 4𝑥 − 4
× + × = + = =
𝑥 𝑥−4 𝑥−4 𝑥 𝑥(𝑥 − 4) 𝑥(𝑥 − 4) 𝑥(𝑥 − 4) 𝑥(𝑥 − 4)
D

The answer is A.

Shortcut Solution: For any “equivalent” questions like this one, we can also use the method we discussed in
Chapter 3 and just plug in 𝑥 = 1.
@

1-4
2. Dividing Fractions
Let’s say that we are solving an equation and get to
2 1
𝑥=
3 5
%
To solve for 𝑥, we divide both sides by !. How do we divide a fraction by a fraction? Take the fraction on
the bottom, flip it to get the reciprocal, and then multiply the top fraction by the reciprocal of the
!
bottom fraction. It’s as easy as that! For this example, the reciprocal of the bottom fraction is , so we
%
!
multiply the top fraction by .
%
1
1 3 3
𝑥= 5 = × =
2 5 2 10
3

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