SAT Math formula sheet and topic guides

The formula sheet the exam hands you, the same one you can open during practice, plus short reads on the topics that cost students the most points.

The formula sheet, exactly as the exam gives it

Circle area and circumference, rectangle and triangle area, the Pythagorean theorem, the two special right triangles, and the five solids, with the three notes about degrees, radians and angle sums. Tap the sheet to zoom in on any formula.

Short guides, written to be read once

Each guide covers one idea in a few minutes: what the exam actually asks, the mistake that costs the mark, and the fastest correct way through it.

• Solving Absolute Value Equations on SAT MathAbsolute value equations usually have two answers, and sometimes one gets rejected. Here is the split and the check that keeps you honest.
• Circles: Arcs, Sectors and the Circle EquationEvery arc and sector question is a fraction of a whole circle. Once you see the fraction, the formulas almost disappear.
• Solving Exponential Equations by Common BaseRewrite both sides with the same base and the exponents become a simple equation. Growth and decay factors follow the same idea.
• Exponential Growth and Decay: Reading the ModelWhat the base and the starting value mean, how a percent becomes a growth factor, and how to read a model whose period is not one unit.
• Exponent and Radical Rules That Decide SAT QuestionsThe five exponent rules, how radicals turn into fractional powers, and the three traps that turn a correct method into a wrong answer.
• Function Notation, Composition and Inverses on SAT MathWhat f(3) really asks, how to evaluate a composition in the right order, and how to read an inverse without algebra.
• The Hardest SAT Math Topics and Where Effort PaysA rough map of how the four SAT Math areas split, which ones hold the hard questions, and where study time returns the most.
• Slope, Intercepts and Parallel Lines on SAT MathHow slope, intercepts and perpendicularity actually get tested, and which form of a line answers which question fastest.
• Inequalities: The One Rule That Changes the AnswerInequalities solve exactly like equations except for one move. Here is when the sign flips, why it flips, and how to handle greatest integer and at least questions.
• Mean, Median and Spread: What Changes When You Add a ValueHow to recover a missing value from the mean, why the median ignores outliers, and what adding or multiplying every value does to the spread.
• Percent Change: Use Multipliers, Not SubtractionsOne habit that fixes most percent questions: turn every change into a multiplier, then multiply. It handles chains, working backwards and the classic trap.
• Probability Without Replacement and Conditional ProbabilityHow the denominator changes when the first item is not put back, how to read a two-way table, and how the complement solves at least one questions.
• The Discriminant and Real Solutions on SAT MathThe sign of b squared minus 4ac tells you how many real solutions a quadratic has, before you solve anything.
• Quadratic Forms: Standard, Factored and VertexEach form of a quadratic hands you a different fact for free. Read the question first, then pick the form that already contains the answer.
• Right Triangle Trigonometry: SOH CAH TOA and the TriplesLabel the triangle against the angle first, then the ratios are mechanical. Includes the special triangles and the complementary angle identity.
• SAT Math Calculator Rules on the Digital TestThe digital SAT allows a graphing calculator on every math question. Here is what the built-in tool can do and when working by hand is faster.
• SAT Math Formula Sheet: Given vs MemorizedThe formulas the digital SAT gives you on test day, and the few you should know by heart. One page, free, with a printable PDF.
• SAT Math Grid-In Answers: How to Enter ThemHow to enter student-produced responses on the digital SAT: fractions, decimals, negatives, and the format mistakes that cost marks when the math is already right.
• How Many Questions and How Long Is SAT Math?SAT Math has two modules of 22 questions and 35 minutes each, so 44 questions in 70 minutes. Here is how the timing adds up.
• Margin of Error and Statistical Claims on the SATMargin of error, random samples, and studies versus experiments: how the SAT words statistical claims and which conclusion the data can actually support.
• Scatterplots and Lines of Best Fit on the SATHow the SAT tests scatterplots: reading the slope as a rate with units, the intercept as a starting value, and predicted versus actual values.
• How SAT Math Is Scored and What Estimates MeanSAT Math is scored on a 200 to 800 scale, separate from Reading and Writing. Here is what a practice estimate in the app really tells you.
• SAT Math Timing: Pace Two 35-Minute ModulesThe math section is 70 minutes for 44 questions. A pacing method that spends the clock where marks are cheapest, and what to do when a question stalls.
• SAT Math Topics: The Four Domains, MappedWhat the digital SAT Math section actually tests, domain by domain, with the question counts and the skills that hide inside each one.
• Systems With No Solution vs Infinite SolutionsTwo linear equations can meet once, never, or everywhere. Comparing slopes and intercepts tells you which, without solving the system.
• Solving Systems on SAT Math: Picking the Fast MethodSubstitution, elimination and the combination shortcut, and how to tell which one a system is inviting before you start writing.

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