SSAT Upper Level Math : Whole and Part

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SSAT Upper Level Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #21 : Whole And Part

A dress goes on sale for \(\displaystyle 32\%\) off. If the dress originally cost \(\displaystyle \$34\), how much does it cost while it is on sale?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle \$19.52\)

\(\displaystyle \$22.00\)

\(\displaystyle \$24.12\)

\(\displaystyle \$23.12\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle \$23.12\)

Explanation:

Subtract the amount discounted from the original cost of the dress to find its sale price.

\(\displaystyle 34-(0.32\times34)=23.12\)

The dress cost \(\displaystyle \$23.12\) on sale.

Example Question #6 : How To Find The Part From The Whole

Initially, \(\displaystyle m\) number of students were going to chip in to buy their teacher a present that cost \(\displaystyle d\) dollars. If \(\displaystyle y\) students decide not to pay, which of the following expressions represent how much each remaining student must now pay?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle \frac{m-y}{d}\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{d}{y-m}\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{d}{m-y}\)

\(\displaystyle \frac{m}{d}\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle \frac{d}{m-y}\)

Explanation:

To determine how much each person must pay, we will need to divide the total dollar amount by the number of people paying.

Before some students decided not to pay, the amount each person would have to pay is represented by the following expression:

\(\displaystyle \frac{d}{m}\)

Now, since \(\displaystyle y\) students dropped out, we need to subtract that from the number of people who will be paying.

\(\displaystyle \text{Cost per student}=\frac{d}{m-y}\)

Example Question #1251 : Ssat Upper Level Quantitative (Math)

Pauline has \(\displaystyle 20\) pieces of candy. If she eats \(\displaystyle 25\%\) of the candy then accidentally drops \(\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}\) of the remaining amount on the ground, how many pieces of candy does she have left?

Possible Answers:

\(\displaystyle 15\)

\(\displaystyle 5\)

\(\displaystyle 10\)

\(\displaystyle 12\)

Correct answer:

\(\displaystyle 10\)

Explanation:

First, find out how many pieces of candy Pauline has after eating \(\displaystyle 25\%\) of them.

\(\displaystyle 20-(0.25\times20)=15\)

Now, she loses \(\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}\) of this remaining amount.  Since \(\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}\) of \(\displaystyle 15\) is \(\displaystyle 5\), that means that her new total is 15 - 5 = 10 pieces of candy.

 

Pauline is left with 10 pieces of candy.

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