SAT Math Topics: What to Know

Are you ready to tackle SAT Math? Review what’s tested on the SAT Math section so you know what to expect on exam day so you can incorporate these concepts into your SAT study plan. Then, test your abilities with realistic SAT Math practice questions.

The SAT Math test can be broken down into 4 main content areas: Heart of Algebra, Problem Solving and Data Analysis, Passport to Advanced Math, and Additional Topics. Some questions on the SAT Math test may include concepts that seem unfamiliar to you, but don’t worry–all the topics tested on the SAT Math test are taught in your typical high school Pre-algebra, Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, and Pre-Calculus classes.

Read on for a more in-depth look at the concepts you might see on the SAT Math test.

Get ahead of the most challenging parts of the new Digital SAT by taking this math quiz.

1. Translate a word problem into an expression, equation, or inequality.
2. Solve a linear equation or inequality with one variable (including absolute values).
3. Solve a system of linear equations or inequalities with two variables.
4. Interpret a linear equation, expression, or inequality in context.
5. Understand how a linear graph relates to an equation or system of equations or inequalities.

1. Use ratios, rates, and proportions to solve a problem.
2. Use percentages to solve a problem.
3. Perform unit conversions.
4. Predict a line or curve of best fit for a scatterplot.
5. Understand the difference between linear and exponential growth.
6. Calculate probabilities from data.
7. Calculate mean, median, mode, and range of data, and understand how these, along with standard deviation, affect the shape, center, and spread of data.
8. Make and justify statistical inferences from data (little to no statistical calculation required).

1. Use a quadratic or exponential function to model a real-life context.
2. Simplify an expression with exponents.
3. Manipulate and interpret a nonlinear expression in its context.
4. Isolate a variable in a nonlinear equation.
5. Solve a quadratic equation (via factoring, completing the square, and quadratic formula).
6. Perform operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) with polynomial expressions.
7. Solve an equation containing variables in the denominator.
8. Solve a system of equations consisting of a quadratic and linear equation.
9. Know how the zeros and factors of a polynomial relate to one another and to the polynomial’s graph.
10. Know how a nonlinear graph relates to an equation or system of nonlinear equations.
11. Understand function notation and how transformations/compositions are performed in this notation.

1. Use volume and area formulas (provided on test).
2. Solve for missing information when parallel lines are cut by a transversal or when similar/congruent triangles are provided.
3. Solve a right triangle using the Pythagorean theorem or trigonometric ratios (sine, cosine, tangent).
4. Use the relationship between similar triangles, trigonometric ratios, and right triangles.
5. Calculate missing values in a circle (arc lengths, angle measures, chord lengths, sector areas).
6. Convert between degree and radian measures.
7. Find and interpret the standard form for the equation of a circle in the coordinate plane.
8. Perform operations between complex numbers.