PSAT/NMSQT Prep 2022 - Eggert M.D., Strelka A. 2022

On test day
Functions
Passport to advanced math

The PSAT likes to test the modeling of real-life situations. Get comfortable with function notation in these questions. Remember that you can write the equation of a line as y = mx + b or as f(x) = mx + b, where m is the slope and b is the y-intercept. Both mean the same thing. In the formula using function notation, the slope indicates rate of change. Often, in questions asking about real-life situations, the x variable indicates time. In that case, the y-intercept (i.e., the value of the function at x = 0, or f (0)) indicates the starting point.

16. An environmental agency is working to reduce the amount of toxic waste that a company discards in the ocean. Currently, the company discards 10.8 ­million pounds of toxic waste annually, and the agency’s goal is to eliminate that amount by collecting the toxic waste and putting it through a process that makes the substance nontoxic. If the agency increases its processing capacity at a constant rate and meets its goal at the end of the 14th year, which of the following linear functions f could the agency use to model the amount of toxic waste (in millions of pounds) being added to the ocean t years into the ­program?

A.

B.

C.

D.

The answer and explanation can be found at the end of this chapter.