The ACT Math Test covers a broad array of topics, from simple topics like pre-algebra to more difficult ones such as trigonometry. You shouldn’t assume that the pre-algebra questions will be a thousand times easier than the trig questions, though. To compensate for their relative difficulty, ACT usually uses the basic format to ask you questions on trig. Pre-algebra questions, on the other hand, run the gamut of difficulty, so don’t slight them in your math review.

Below, we’ll run through the entire content of the ACT Math Test, listing topics according to mathematical subject area. We won’t bother describing the topics here because the majority of this section is devoted to reviewing all the concepts in depth. Don’t panic about the length of this list: its length actually benefits you. Because the Math Test covers many topics, it can’t devote more than one or two questions to most of them. So if you completely blank on the rules for perpendicular lines, you won’t lose a significant number of points—especially if you guess well.

Also, note that this list covers all the topics that could, not all the topics that will appear. A number of these topics will not appear on the ACT you take. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t review, but it does mean that you shouldn’t worry. As part of our review of ACT Math, which takes up the last two thirds of this section, we will tell you which topics appear often and which pop up only occasionally.