Math Questions and Time
There are often several ways to answer an SAT math question:
you can use trial and error; you can set up and solve an equation:
for some questions, you might be able to answer the question quickly,
intuitively, and elegantly, if you can just spot how. These different approaches
to answering questions vary in the amount of time they take. Trial
and error generally takes the longest, while the elegant method
of relying on an intuitive understanding of conceptual knowledge
takes the least amount of time.
Take, for example, the following problem:
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Which
has a greater area, a square with sides measuring 4 cm or a circle
with a radius of the same length? |
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The most obvious way to solve this problem is by plugging
4 into the formula for the area of a square and then the area of
a circle. Area of a square
so the area of this square
=
Area of a circle =
so
the area of this circle must be
is
obviously bigger than
16, so the circle must have a
larger area than the square. But a faster approach would have been
to draw a quick to-scale diagram with the square and circle superimposed.
An even quicker way would have been to understand the
area equations for squares and circles so well that it was just
obvious that
the circle was bigger, since the equation for the circle will square
the
4 and multiply it by
,
whereas the equation for the square will only square the
4.
While you may not be able to become a math whiz and just know the
answer, you can learn to look for a quicker route, such as choosing
to draw a diagram instead of working out the equation. As with the
example above, a quicker route is not necessarily a less accurate
one. Making such choices comes down to practice, an awareness that
other routes are out there, and basic mathematical ability.
The value of time-saving strategies is obvious: less time
spent on some questions allows you to devote more time to difficult
problems. It is this issue of time that separates the students who
score high on the math section from those who merely do well. Whether
or not the ability to find accurate shortcuts is an actual measure
of mathematical prowess is not for us to say (though we can think
of arguments on either side), but the ability to find those shortcuts
absolutely matters on this test.
