Mark Zegarelli - ACT Math For Dummies

Visit www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/actmath to view this books cheat sheet. Table of Contents ACT Math For Dummies by Mark Zegarelli ACT Math For Dummies Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River St.
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com Copyright 2011 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. ACT is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services.

If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002.

For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Control Number: 2011927309 ISBN: 978-1-118-00154-7 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 About the Author Mark Zegarelli is the author of Basic Math and Pre-Algebra For Dummies (Wiley), SAT Math For Dummies (Wiley), and five other books on basic math, calculus, and logic. He holds degrees in both English and math from Rutgers University and is a math tutor and teacher. Mark lives in San Francisco, California, and Long Branch, New Jersey.

Dedication For my good friend David Feaster as always, with love, laughter, and light. Authors Acknowledgments This is my seventh For Dummies book, and my seventh positive experience working with a first-rate team of editors who make the process of writing so very pleasurable and productive. Thanks so much to my Wiley editors Chrissy Guthrie, Jessica Smith, and Lindsay Lefevere. More thanks to technical editors Sarah Weaver and Amy Nicklin for keeping me on track, accurate, and finely tuned to the needs of readers who are studying for the ACT. And thanks to Annie Koziol, Steven Satyricon, and all the rest of the friendly folks at Maxfields House of Caffeine for their contribution in helping to make this book good to the last drop. Publishers Acknowledgments Were proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at http://dummies.custhelp.com.

For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development Senior Project Editor: Christina Guthrie Executive Editor: Lindsay Lefevere Copy Editor: Jessica Smith Assistant Editor: David Lutton Editorial Program Coordinator: Joe Niesen Technical Editors: Amy Nicklin, Sarah Weaver Editorial Manager: Christine Meloy Beck Editorial Assistants: Rachelle Amick, Alexa Koschier Cover Photos: iStockphoto.com/design 56 Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com) Composition Services Project Coordinator: Sheree Montgomery Layout and Graphics: Carrie A. Cesavice, Corrie Socolovitch, Christin Swinford Proofreaders: Laura Albert, Lindsay Amones, Sossity R. Smith Indexer: Potomac Indexing, LLC Special Help: Caitie Copple Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies Kristin Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies Ensley Eikenburg, Associate Publisher, Travel Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel Publishing for Technology Dummies Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User Composition Services Debbie Stailey , Director of Composition Services Introduction A lmost half of all graduating students in the United States (an estimated 45 percent) take the ACT.

If youre among this lucky bunch, you may be looking toward the future with a combination of anticipation and dread. Youre anticipating college, with its new experiences and first tastes of freedom, but youre dreading the hoops you have to jump through to get there. Of course, the ACT is one of these hoops. If you do well on this test, youre propelled to your first-choice college; if you do poorly, maybe not. Youre not alone. And Im here to help.

As the author of Basic Math and Pre-Algebra For Dummies (Wiley) and SAT Math For Dummies (Wiley), Ive already helped thousands of would-be college students get through the arduous testing process and move into the exciting life that awaits them in college. If youre willing to keep the faith and do the work in front of you, Im confident that you can be among those who succeed on the ACT and take one step forward into your dreams. Let this book be your guide. About This Book Although you certainly want to do well on all four sections of the ACT (as well as the optional writing test), this book focuses exclusively on math. The reason Im playing favorites is simple: For many students (and possibly you, too), math is the toughest section of the test. Because your composite score on the ACT is based in part on your math score, you dont want math to drag down an otherwise good score.

The math you need to know to do well on the ACT is basically whats covered in high school: pre-algebra, elementary algebra, intermediate algebra, coordinate geometry, plane geometry, and trigonometry. If youre thinking of college, the good news is that youve probably studied a lot of this material already. The bad news is that you may have forgotten it or never felt entirely comfortable with it in the first place. This situation is perfectly normal, and most students who arent math geniuses feel roughly the same as you. So your task is to find a realistic strategy to pull together the stuff you already know even if youre not currently confident that you know it and tie in the more advanced topics that may have eluded you. Luckily, youve come to the right place.