Mark Zegarelli

Making sure you have a handle on algebra, geometry, and trigonometry is a solid start for success on the math section of the ACT. However, to boost your confidence — and your score — even higher, you should master some helpful test-taking strategies, as well as make sure you know how to translate word problems into equations and use sketches to figure out what a tricky-sounding question is really asking.

Fractions, decimals, and percents are the three most common ways to give a mathematical description of parts of a whole object. Fractions are common in baking and carpentry when you're using English measurement units (such as cups, gallons, feet, and inches). Decimals are used with dollars and cents, the metric system, and in scientific notation.

The Big Four math operations — addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division — let you combine numbers and perform calculations. Certain operations possess properties that enable you to manipulate the numbers in the problem, which comes in handy, especially when you get into higher math like algebra. The important properties you need to know are the commutative property, the associative property, and the distributive property.

The English system of measurements is most commonly used in the United States. In contrast, the metric system is used throughout most of the rest of the world. Converting measurements between the English and metric systems is a common everyday reason to know math. This article gives you some precise metric-to-English conversions, as well as some easy-to-remember conversions that are good enough for most situations.

Exponents, radicals, and absolute value are mathematical operations that go beyond addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. They are useful in more advanced math, such as algebra, but they also have real-world applications, especially in geometry and measurement.Exponents (powers) are repeated multiplication: When you raise a number to the power of an exponent, you multiply that number by itself the number of times indicated by the exponent.

Although there's no shortcut to success on the math sections of the SAT, you can study and prepare in order to get the best SAT score you possibly can. Knowing what will be on the test (and what won't be) is key so you know what to brush up on.Also, some basic strategy goes a long way toward helping you get the best score you can.

To find the volume of a prism or cylinder, you can use the following formula, where Ab is the area of the base and h is the height: V = Ab x h Practice questions Find the volume of a prism with a base that has an area of 6 square centimeters and a height of 3 centimeters. Figure out the approximate volume of a cylinder whose base has a radius of 7 millimeters and whose height is 16 millimeters.