This is an example of the kinds of math that you should be able to do fairly easily in order to succeed in this course. The answers are given at the bottom, along with information on how your score compares to that of other students who have taken this exam in the past. Your recitation instructor may be going over this exam the first week.
1. If y = 2x + 3, for
what x is y zero?
a)1.5, b) –1.5, c) 2.5, d) –2.5, e) none of them
2. If y = x^3 what
happens
to y if x is doubled?
a) it doubles, b) it quadruples, c) it increases eightfold, d) it
halves,
e) none of them.
4. The equation of a straight line that passes through the origin having a slope of 2 would be: a) y = 0.5x, b) y=2.0x, c) y=0.5x+1, d) y=2.0x+1, e) none of them
5.What two values of x satisfy the equation: 3x^2 +2x -1 =0?
a) 1/3, -4/3, b) 1/3, 4/3, c) 2/3, -4/3, d) 2/3, 4/3, e) none of
them
6. A certain angle has a sine of 0.6. What is the cosine of
that
angle?
a) 0.6, b) +0.6 or –0.6, c) 0.8, d) +0.8 or –0.8, e) none of them
7. If x + y = 2 and x – y = 0 are simultaneously true, then
what
is x?
a) 1, b) 2, c) 3, d) 4, e) none of them
8. A high efficiency light bulb costs $10 and lasts 10,000 hrs,
compared
to a normal light bulb that costs 50 cents and lasts 1,000 hrs. How
much
would you need to save per hour on electricity for it to be worth your
while to use the high efficiency light bulb?
a) 1 cent, b) 2 cents, c) 0.5 cents, d) 0.05 cents, e) none of them
9. How much is the log (base 10) of [(10^3)/(10^-2)]?
a) 4, b) 5, c) 6, d) 1, e) none of them
10. A house is 50 ft long, 30 ft wide and 10 ft high, and has a flat roof. If paint costs 1 cent per square foot, how much would you need to pay for paint in order to paint the outside ignoring windows and doors, and assuming you don't paint the roof? a) $10, b) $8, c) $16, d) $24, e) none of them
The average score on this test last year was 6 out of 10, with
2/3
the class getting between 4 and 8. If you did poorly, be sure to
take advantage of the free tutoring that the math department offers --
see: http://math.gmu.edu/~eobrien/tcenter.html.
Here are a couple of good web sites to help you if your math is
rusty: http://www.analyzemath.com/precalculus.html
and http://www.physics.uoguelph.ca/tutorials/tutorials.html