ACT Instructor Tracey of Prepped & Polished, www.preppedandpolished.com, shares an overview of Geometry and Trigonometry  concepts for the ACT Exam.

An overview of the Geometry and Trigonometry concepts

Content Breakdown

The breakdown of the geometry and trigonometry concepts tested on the ACT is as follows:

We have plane geometry problems, which are 23% of the math questions, and that equates to 14 questions. Coordinate geometry is 15% of math questions, so that’s nine questions, and trigonometry is 7% of the math questions, and that’s only four questions.

For those of you concerned about not having trigonometry, you’ll be taking it your junior year; if you may not take it at all, it’s only four questions. Either you can work with the tutor, or you can guess on these questions, or even eliminating these four questions should not hurt your score too much.

Plane Geometry concepts include

  • Perimeter and area of polygons – triangles, squares, rectangles, parallelograms and trapezoids
  • Different types of triangles such as equilateral, isosceles and similar triangles
  • Properties of circles
  • Angles
  • Right triangles
  • Composite shapes
  • Translations, rotations and reflections

Coordinate Geometry concepts include

  • Number lines
  • XY coordinate plane
  • Lines and slope – perpendicular and parallel lines
  • Graphs – points, lines, polynomials, circles and other curves
  • Distance and midpoint
  • Graphing inequalities

Trigonometry concepts include

  • Sine, cosine and tangent – SOH CAH TOA
  • Right triangles 
  • Cosecant, secant and cotangent
  • Graphs of the sine and cosine functions
  • Trigonometric identities

Do you struggle on the ACT Geometry and Trigonometry section? Do you have any questions for Tracey?
Post your tips/comments below.

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