Algebraic word problems — SSAT Upper practice questions

Algebraic word problems on the SSAT Upper Quantitative (Math) section ask students to set up and solve linear equations, often after translating a short statement into symbols. A student must distribute, collect like terms, and isolate a variable, and sometimes then evaluate a related expression rather than stop at the unknown itself. Questions are multiple choice with five options and typically ask for the value of a letter or of a simple expression in that letter. Common traps include skipping the distributive step, moving a term with the wrong sign, and selecting the value of the variable when the stem actually asks for something built from it.

Section: Quantitative (Math) 50 questions on the paper
266 practice questions in the app

Sample questions

Question 1

If $2(x + 3) = 14$ , what is the value of $x$ ?

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Answer: C — 4

Divide by 2 to get $x + 3 = 7$ . Then subtract 3, so $x = 4$ .

Question 2

If $3(n-2)=2n+5$ , what is the value of $n$ ?

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Answer: D — 11

$3(n-2)=2n+5$ becomes $3n-6=2n+5$ . Subtracting $2n$ and adding 6 gives $n=11$ .

Question 3

If $5x-7=3x+15$ , what is the value of $2x+1$ ?

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Answer: D — 23

Subtracting $3x$ from both sides and adding 7 gives $2x=22$ , so $x=11$ . Then $2x+1=23$ .

Practice 266 Algebraic word problems questions in the app

Algebraic word problems — SSAT Upper practice questions

Sample questions

More SSAT Upper topics

Quantitative (Math)