conducted an experiment. As shown in the chart below, they showed the time, d days, since the student had
finished and the number of facts, f, that the student remembered from the previous year.
Which of the following equations represents all the data found in this study?
F. f = 9 − d
G. f = 3(9 − d)
H. f = 3d + 3
J. f = 3(36 − 4d)
K. f = 96d
Here’s How to Crack It
This problem looks very different from our last two, but notice that it has some important features in
common with them. Most important for our purposes are the variables in the answer choices. With these
we know that we can Plug In on this question.
This problem is much bulkier than the last two, though, and in many ways more intimidating. This is
because it’s a Word Problem. As we mentioned earlier in this chapter, even though Word Problems often
use the same mathematical concepts, they ask about them in much more convoluted ways. Here’s a simple
Basic Approach for dealing with Word Problems.
When dealing with Word Problems on the ACT Math test
1. Know the question. Read the whole problem before calculating anything, and underline the
actual question.
2. Let the answers help. Look for clues on how to solve and ways to use POE (Process of
Elimination).
3. Break the problem into bite-sized pieces. Watch out for tricky phrasing.
Let’s use these steps to solve this problem.
1. Know the question. We need to find an equation that can accommodate all of the information in the
table for d and f. The question in this problem is below the chart. How much of the other stuff do
we need? Not much.
2. Let the answers help. Remember how important the answers have been in what we’ve done so far
in this chapter. If there are variables in those answer choices, we can usually Plug In. We have
variables in these answer choices, so we’ll plan to Plug In here.
