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College Entrance Test Math

The math that UPCAT, ACET, DCAT and USTET all test, grouped by topic — worked problems across algebra, quadratics, geometry, counting and the shortcut techniques entrance exams reward. Math only; we do not cover the English or Science sections.

Plan

CET Math Review · Number sense

Integer operations and signs

Rewrite subtraction as adding the opposite, then count the minuses — the rules for + and × are not the same.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Number sense

Order of operations

× and ÷ share a rank, so go left to right — and −3² is not the same as (−3)².

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Plan

CET Math Review · Number sense

The four operations on fractions

Multiply straight across, flip the second to divide, and find the LCD to add. Mixed numbers converted first.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Number sense

Ratio and proportion

2 : 5 is a recipe, not a total. Count the parts, find one part, and learn to tell direct from inverse.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Number sense

Fractions, decimals and percents

One number in three costumes. Divide, times 100, and turn a repeating decimal into a fraction with the nines trick.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Number sense

Percentage: base, rate and percentage

15% of what is 48? The word “of” marks the base, “is” marks the part.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Number sense

Profit, loss, markup and commission

The same ₱120 profit is a 25% markup on cost and a 20% margin on the price. “Percent of what” decides everything.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Number sense

Prime factorisation and testing for primes

Divide by primes until you reach 1, then write the exponents. To test 391, only the primes up to √391 matter.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Number sense

Divisibility, GCF and LCM

Break both numbers into primes, then take the lowest powers for the GCF and the highest for the LCM.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Number sense

How many divisors a number has

Add one to every exponent and multiply — 24 divisors of 360 without listing a single one. An odd answer means a perfect square.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Number sense

Rational and irrational numbers

Terminating and repeating decimals are both fractions in disguise. 22/7 is rational; π never will be.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Number sense

Scientific notation

One digit before the point and a power of ten. Multiplying adds the powers — but adding needs them to match.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Number sense

Significant figures and estimation

Leading zeros never count, trailing ones after a point always do. Then a one-figure estimate catches the decimal-point disasters.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Number sense

Consecutive integer problems

n, n+1, n+2 — and both even and odd runs step by two. With an odd count of terms, the average is the middle one.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Number sense

Digit problems: place value in algebra

A two-digit number is 10t + u, never tu. Reversing it always changes it by a multiple of 9.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Number sense

Clock problems: the angle between the hands

At 3:40 the hour hand is nowhere near the 3. Six degrees a minute, half a degree a minute, and one subtraction.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Number sense

Units digit of a large power

The last digit of 7100. Only the last digit matters, and no cycle is ever longer than four.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Complex numbers

Powers of i: four answers, endlessly repeating

Simplify i⁹⁷⁵ with no calculator. The powers loop every four steps, so only the remainder after dividing by 4 matters.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Complex numbers

Operations on complex numbers

Treat i like a letter until you meet i² = −1. FOIL to multiply, and the conjugate to clear a denominator.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Number theory

Remainder patterns: find the cycle

The remainder of 2¹⁰ ÷ 3 with no calculator. The remainders loop after two steps, so only the exponent’s position matters.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Number sense

LCM and GCF word problems

Bells ringing together again is LCM; cutting into the biggest equal pieces is GCF — the battle is telling which one the story wants.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Translating verbal phrases

English into algebra, with the two phrases that come out backwards — less than and subtracted from.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Evaluating expressions

Substitute every letter in brackets, then let the order of operations run. The negatives and the squares are where marks vanish.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Literal equations

Making a letter the subject uses the same moves as numbers. Clear fractions, unwrap in reverse, and factor when the target repeats.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Laws of exponents: zero and negative powers

x⁻² is not negative — it is a location. Multiply the powers, subtract when dividing, then move every negative across the bar.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Radicals and rationalising

Simplify √72, then clear the root off the bottom of a fraction — single roots, and the conjugate trick for two terms.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Polynomial operations: add, subtract, multiply

Only like terms combine, the minus sign hits every term in the bracket, and multiplying means every term meets every other one.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Special products: three patterns to know on sight

(2x + 5)² is never just 4x² + 25. Why a square always has a doubled middle, and a difference of squares has none.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Binomial expansion and Pascal's triangle

1, 4, 6, 4, 1 for a fourth power, one exponent counting down and the other up — and a general term that finds one coefficient alone.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Factoring trinomials: the AC method

How to factor 3x² − 10x + 3 when the number in front of x² is not 1 — find the pair, split the middle, group, and check by multiplying back out.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Perfect square trinomials

Root both ends, double the product, compare with the middle. The three-move test, and filling in a missing term.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Factoring by grouping

Four terms is the signal. Pair them, factor each pair, and a shared bracket appears — flip a sign if they come out reversed.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Sum and difference of cubes

Two formulas kept straight by one word: SOAP. Unlike a sum of squares, a sum of cubes does factor.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Remainder and factor theorems

Substitute one number and you know the remainder. Zero means a factor — then synthetic division finishes the job.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Polynomial long division

Divide, multiply, subtract, bring down — with a 0x placeholder for the missing power, and synthetic division when the divisor is x − c.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Simplifying rational expressions

You may cancel factors, never terms. Factor both halves, cancel the matching bracket, then say what x can never be.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Adding and subtracting rational expressions

Factor the denominators, build the LCD from the factors, and bracket the numerator you are subtracting.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Rational equations and extraneous roots

Write the banned value before you cancel anything. An answer can look perfectly right and still be illegal in the original.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Linear equations with fractions

Clear the denominators first. Find the LCD, multiply every term by it, cancel — and what is left is ordinary algebra.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Radical equations

Isolate, square, solve — then check every root, because squaring invents answers that were never there.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Equations reducible to quadratic

When the middle power is half the first, let u be the smaller piece — then remember that u is not x, and a quartic has four roots.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Linear inequalities: when the sign flips

−3x + 7 > 22. Dividing by a negative reverses the direction — here is why, on a number line, and how to dodge it entirely.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Compound inequalities: two boundaries, one x

Solving −2 < 3x + 1 ≤ 10 means working on all three parts at once — then open and closed dots decide the interval.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Absolute value equations and inequalities

Distance from zero, so everything splits in two. Less than gives one stretch; greater than gives two pieces.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Systems by substitution

When a letter already sits alone, substitution beats elimination. Keep the brackets, and remember an answer needs both letters.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Systems of equations: solving by elimination

Two equations, two unknowns. Match the coefficients, add the lines so one letter dies, then substitute back for the other.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Systems in three variables

Eliminate the same letter twice to get down to two equations, solve those, then climb back for the third.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Systems of inequalities

Solid line for ≥, dashed for >, shade with a test point — and the overlap is the solution.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Variation: direct, inverse and finding k

One word decides the formula. Inversely puts x under the bar and fixes the product — find k from the first pair, then use it on the second.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Algebra

Absolute value inequalities

|x − a| is a distance: less-thAND traps x between two fences, greatOR throws it outside them.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Quadratics

Solving quadratics by factoring

Zero on one side, factor, then let each bracket take a turn — and never divide by x, or a root vanishes.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Quadratics

Solving by extracting square roots

3x² − 75 = 0 needs no formula. Isolate the square, root both sides, and write the ± that carries the second answer.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Quadratics

The quadratic formula

For 2x² + 3x − 5 = 0. Label a, b and c with their signs, work the discriminant first, then split the ± into two answers.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Quadratics

Completing the square

Halve b, square it, add it to both sides. Where the quadratic formula comes from, and why the method is named after a picture.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Quadratics

The discriminant: one number tells you the roots

b² − 4ac for 2x² − 4x + 5. You never solve the equation — the sign of D alone says how many real roots there are.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Quadratics

Sum and product of roots

Two facts about the answers, read straight off the equation — −b/a and c/a, no solving required.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Quadratics

The vertex: highest or lowest point

A ball at h = −5t² + 20t. −b/2a gives the time; only substituting back gives the height. Two questions, two numbers.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Quadratics

Graphing a parabola

Direction, vertex, axis, intercepts — five facts draw the whole curve, and symmetry hands you every second point for free.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Quadratics

Writing the equation from roots or a graph

Roots give factors, the sum and product give the coefficients, and a graph gives the vertex form — once one more point fixes a.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Quadratics

Maximum and minimum problems

Constraint, substitute, quadratic, vertex. Fencing, revenue and products — one method behind all three.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Quadratics

Quadratic inequalities: a stretch, not a point

x² − 4 < 0 does not give x < 2. Factor it, mark the boundaries, and test one number from each of the three zones.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Word problems

Age word problems: the Past / Present / Future table

A mother is her daughter’s age, and five years ago. One table keeps every age straight — and shows the trap at the end.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Word problems

Catching up: distance, rate and time

A freight train at 40 mph, an express 3 hours behind it at 60 mph. Catching up means the two distances are equal.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Word problems

Distance apart: two vehicles, opposite ways

Two cars leave together at 40 and 60 kph in opposite directions. The gap grows from both ends, so the distances add.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Word problems

Distance apart: two vehicles, same way

Car A at 75 mph pulls ahead of Car B at 55 mph. Same direction, so the gap is a difference — subtract, don’t add.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Word problems

Work problems: working together

Alice paints a fence in 4 hours, Bob in 6. Turn hours into a rate per hour, add the rates, then flip — never average the hours.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Word problems

Coin problems: how many coins vs how much money

15 coins worth ₱100. One equation counts the coins, the other weighs them — and the letters must count, not carry value.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Word problems

Concentration: the mixing formula

Mixing a 30% solution into 12 L of 70% to land on 45%. Percents never add — litres of the pure stuff do.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Word problems

Average speed: total over total

Never average the speeds — total distance over total time, or 2ab/(a + b) for a round trip. The 60-and-40 answer is 48, not 50.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Word problems

Boats and currents

Downstream b + c, upstream b − c — add the equations to find the boat, subtract to find the current.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Word problems

Two investments

x at one rate, total − x at the other — and the equation lives in the interest, because that is the number the story gives.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Coordinate geometry

The distance formula

Pythagoras wearing coordinates. Subtract, square, add, root — and the order of the two points never matters.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Coordinate geometry

The missing endpoint, when you know the midpoint

One end at (−2, 1), the middle at (4, 3). Split the midpoint formula into two tiny equations — one for x, one for y.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Coordinate geometry

The missing coordinate, when you know the slope

A line of slope 3 through (6, 7) and (x, 1). Drop the numbers into the slope formula and the unknown is just another slot.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Coordinate geometry

The equation of a line

Slope first, then point-slope, then rearrange into whichever of the four forms the answer choices use.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Coordinate geometry

Equation of a circle

The distance formula, squared. Watch the flipped bracket signs, and complete both squares to get there from general form.

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CET Math Review · Coordinate geometry

Transformations

Translate adds, reflect flips one coordinate, rotate swaps them, dilate multiplies. Only dilation changes the size.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Coordinate geometry

Parallel and perpendicular slopes

Parallel shares the slope; perpendicular flips the fraction and switches the sign — the product must be −1.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Coordinate geometry

Area from coordinates: the shoelace method

Cross-multiply down, cross-multiply up, subtract and halve — any polygon's area from its vertex list.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Graph analysis

Reading a line from its graph

b is where it crosses, m is rise over run — two reads off the picture and the equation writes itself.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Graph analysis

Reading a parabola from its graph

Direction, vertex, roots — then one marked point pins down a and the whole equation follows.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Graph analysis

Reading data graphs: bars, lines and averages

Check the scale first, then count gridlines — differences, averages and the steepest climb all follow.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Graph analysis

Reading f(x) from a graph

Up from x to the curve, across to y evaluates f — and f(x) = k is the same trip run backwards, solutions counted with one horizontal line.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Graph analysis

Domain and range from a graph

Domain is the x-shadow, range is the y-shadow — and the lowest point of the curve beats any endpoint.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Graph analysis

The vertical line test

One input, one output: if any vertical line hits the curve twice, it is not a function — one bad line settles it.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Graph analysis

Solving a system from its graph

The crossing point is the solution — read it, check it in both equations, and count solutions on sight.

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CET Math Review · Graph analysis

Shifts and flips: reading transformed graphs

Inside the bracket moves it sideways — opposite the sign — outside moves it up, and a leading minus flips it.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Geometry

Angle pairs

Complementary 90°, supplementary 180°, vertical angles equal — and why adjacent on its own means nothing.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Geometry

Angles in a triangle

The three angles total 180°, and an exterior angle equals the two far ones — plus the isosceles ambiguity.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Geometry

Triangle inequality and classification

Can 5, 7, 13 be a triangle? The two shorter sides must beat the longest, then the squares say acute, right or obtuse.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Geometry

Triangle congruence: SSS, SAS, ASA and the rest

Three matching parts prove two triangles identical — but only the right three. SSA swings two ways, and CPCTC collects everything else afterwards.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Geometry

Parallel lines cut by a transversal

Eight angles, but only two sizes. Corresponding, alternate and co-interior pairs — and the shortcut that skips the names.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Geometry

Polygon angles and diagonals

Every polygon is a pile of triangles: (n − 2)180 inside, always 360 outside, and n(n − 3)/2 diagonals.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Geometry

Parallelograms

Opposite sides and angles equal, consecutive angles supplementary, diagonals bisect — and the rectangle–rhombus–square family.

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CET Math Review · Geometry

Trapezoids and kites

The median is the average of the bases, the area is that average times the height, and a kite's area is half the product of its diagonals.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Geometry

Similar triangles

A flagpole and a building casting shadows at the same moment. Two equal angles are enough — and area scales by the square of the ratio.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Geometry

The Pythagorean theorem

A 13 m ladder, its foot 5 m out. Add for the hypotenuse, subtract for a leg — plus the triples worth memorising.

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CET Math Review · Geometry

Special right triangles

1 : 1 : √2 and 1 : √3 : 2 — two fixed ratios that replace a calculator.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Geometry

Area of triangles and quadrilaterals

Triangle, trapezoid, rhombus and Heron — five formulas and one warning: always the perpendicular height.

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CET Math Review · Geometry

Circles: circumference, area, arc and sector

Two formulas for the whole circle, then θ/360 applied twice — arc from C, sector from A.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Geometry

Central and inscribed angles

An angle at the centre equals its arc; one on the rim is half of it. Plus the right angle hiding in every semicircle.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Geometry

Chords, tangents and secants

Two chords crossing give equal products. From outside, whole × outside — and a tangent is its own whole and outside.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Geometry

Shaded region problems

Almost always one shape minus another. Name both, subtract, and keep π until the very last line.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Solid geometry

Volume and surface area

Base × height, or a third of it if the solid comes to a point — plus what scaling does to each.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Trigonometry

Degrees and radians

π = 180° converts both ways. Then arc length and sector area — two formulas that refuse to work until the angle is in radians.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Trigonometry

SOH-CAH-TOA: picking the right ratio

An angle of elevation of 32° from 40 m away. Tick the side you know and the side you want — only one ratio holds both.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Trigonometry

Exact trig values at 30°, 45° and 60°

Nine values, all read off two triangles — plus the √0 √1 √2 √3 √4 pattern that makes them stick.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Trigonometry

Coterminal and reference angles

Add or subtract full turns to get inside one revolution, measure the acute angle to the x-axis, then let the quadrant set the sign.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Trigonometry

Basic trig identities

Rewrite everything in sines and cosines, then look for sin²θ + cos²θ = 1. Eight identities, all of them from one right triangle.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Trigonometry

The Law of Sines

Pair every side with the angle facing it. For triangles with no right angle — plus the ambiguous case.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Trigonometry

The Law of Cosines

Pythagoras with a correction term. Use it for SAS or SSS, and a negative cosine always means an obtuse angle.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Geometry

Medians, altitudes and the centroid

Four special segments told apart — and the centroid cutting every median 2 : 1 from the vertex.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Geometry

Similar figures: k, k², k³

Lengths scale by k, areas by , volumes by k³ — one exponent per dimension, and backwards questions root down to k first.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Sequences

Arithmetic sequences and series

Find the 10th term of 2, 5, 8, 11, … without writing all ten. Then total them with the series formula — and see why it is n − 1, not n.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Sequences

Arithmetic series

Pair the first term with the last and every pair totals the same. Both sum formulas, plus 1 + 2 + … + 100 in one line.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Sequences

Geometric sequences: multiply, don’t add

The 10th term of 3, 6, 12, 24, … — divide to find r, and see why the power is n − 1 rather than n.

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CET Math Review · Sequences

Finite geometric series

Adding a doubling sequence, where pairing fails. The formula, the two negatives that cancel, and where the infinite version comes from.

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CET Math Review · Sequences

Infinite series: endless terms, finite total

8 + 4 + 2 + 1 + … never stops, yet it totals 16. Divide to find r, test that |r| < 1, then a ÷ (1 − r).

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CET Math Review · Sequences

Arithmetic and geometric means

Inserting means is filling in a sequence. Three means make five terms and four gaps — count the gaps, not the blanks.

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CET Math Review · Sequences

Finding the next term in any pattern

Differences, then ratios, then second differences — plus the eight families worth knowing on sight, and the trick of two sequences taking turns.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Sequences and series

Harmonic sequences: flip, solve, flip back

The reciprocals are arithmetic — flip, use the familiar rules, flip back. Plus the harmonic mean, 2ab/(a + b).

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CET Math Review · Sequences and series

Sigma notation: reading the Σ

Start, stop, recipe: run the index, feed the formula, add — and terms = stop − start + 1, both ends counted.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Sequences and series

Recursive sequences

Each term eats the last: crank carefully with labelled terms, or conjecture the explicit formula and test it.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Counting

The counting principle: one slot at a time

3 × 4 × 2 = 24 meals. Draw a slot per decision, count the options, and learn when “or” means add instead.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Counting

Permutations: arranging things in order

Rearranging UPCAT five ways over. Each letter used shrinks the next slot by one, and that chain is just 5! = 120.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Counting

Repeated letters: when items look identical

MATHEMATICS has 11 letters but three of them come in pairs. Swapping identical letters changes nothing, so divide the overcount out.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Counting

Circular permutations: a round table has no first seat

Seating 5 people round a table is not 5!. Spinning the table reseats nobody, so you divide by n and land on (n − 1)!.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Counting

Combinations: when order does not matter

A committee of 3 from 8. Count the arrangements, work out how many times each group got counted, then divide the duplicates away.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Sets

Sets and Venn diagrams

25 like Math and 8 like both — the 25 already contains the 8. Fill the overlap first, always.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Probability

Sample space: listing outcomes

Count the list before you write it. The 6 × 6 grid for two dice, a fixed order for coins, and why (3, 4) and (4, 3) are two different rolls.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Probability

Probability: “and” versus “or”

Or adds, then subtracts the overlap. And multiplies — and the deck shrinks between draws.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Probability

Independent and dependent events

Does the first draw change the second? Without replacement both the top and bottom of the next fraction move.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Probability

Conditional probability: “given that”

The condition throws people out of the room. Build the two-way table, divide inside one row, and never swap the two conditions around.

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CET Math Review · Probability

Complementary events and “at least one”

At least one is the signal to work out the opposite. One multiplication instead of four cases, and no double counting.

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CET Math Review · Probability

Odds versus probability

3 : 7 is not three sevenths. Odds compare the two camps; probability compares one camp to the whole crowd.

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CET Math Review · Probability

Expected value

The average result over the long run. Value × probability, added, minus what it costs — zero is a fair game.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Statistics

Mean, median and mode

All three from one frequency table — and what happens to each when a single zero joins the data.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Statistics

Weighted mean

When exams count for half, the plain average is the wrong tool — and you may never average two averages of different-sized groups.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Statistics

Quartiles, IQR and box plots

Split the data in half, then split each half again. The 1.5 × IQR fences, and how to read a box plot properly.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Statistics

Range, variance and standard deviation

Distances from the mean always total zero, so square them first. Average the squares, then take the root.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Probability

Geometric probability: area odds

A random point's probability is favourable area over total area — and similar shapes square the length ratio first.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Probability

Exactly k successes: binomial probability

One order's probability times C(n, k) orders — and the misses carry their own (1 − p) factors.

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CET Math Review · Statistics

The normal curve: 68–95–99.7

Count the σ steps from the mean and the empirical rule hands you the percent — halved by symmetry for tails.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Functions

Domain and range

Two rules ban everything else — never divide by zero, never even-root a negative. Then read the range off the shape.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Functions

Piecewise functions

One function, two rules. Test the input against the condition, and watch the boundary — it belongs to exactly one piece.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Functions

Function composition

One machine feeding another. The right-hand function runs first, and swapping the order changes the answer.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Functions

Inverse functions: the function that undoes the function

Rewrite f(x) as y, swap x and y, solve and rename. The two graphs come out mirrored in the line y = x.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Exponentials

Exponential equations

Same base on both sides and the exponents must match. When no common base exists, take logs.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Functions

Exponential growth and decay

Growing 5% a year means multiplying by 1.05, once per year. Half-life is the same formula, counting halvings instead.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Logarithms

Laws of logarithms

Multiply becomes add, a power becomes a coefficient. Expanding, condensing, change of base — and the laws that do not exist.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Logarithms

Logarithmic equations: combine, then undo

log₃(x) + log₃(2) = 2. Two logs cannot be undone at once — the product rule squeezes them into one, and the base does the rest.

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Plan

CET Math Review · Functions

Asymptotes of rational functions

Vertical walls at the denominator's uncancelled zeros; the horizontal from comparing degrees. Cancelled zero = hole.

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Plan

Basic Calculus · Limits

Limits: what a function approaches

Plug in first — and when 0/0 appears, it is not an answer, it is an instruction to factor and cancel.

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Plan

Basic Calculus · Derivatives

The derivative as slope

A curve has a slope at every point — the derivative is the slope machine, and the tangent line on the graph proves it.

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Plan

Basic Calculus · Derivatives

The power rule

Bring the power down in front, lower it by one — term by term, every polynomial falls in seconds.

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Plan

Basic Calculus · Derivatives

Maxima and minima with derivatives

Peaks and valleys hide where the tangent goes flat — set f′(x) = 0, solve, and let the sign change name each one.

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Plan

Basic Calculus · Integrals

Antiderivatives: the reverse power rule

Raise the power by one, divide by it, and never lose the + C — then differentiate to check, because integration grades itself.

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Plan

Basic Calculus · Limits

Limits at infinity

Only the biggest powers matter: compare the degrees and the end behaviour — and the horizontal asymptote — read off in one glance.

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Plan

Basic Calculus · Integrals

Area under a curve: the definite integral

Antiderivative at the top limit minus the bottom — one number, the area — then sanity-check it with plain geometry.

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Plan

Basic Calculus · Derivatives

The product and quotient rules

(uv)′ = u′v + uv′ — each factor takes a turn — and quotients follow low d-high minus high d-low, over low squared.

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Plan

Basic Calculus · Derivatives

The chain rule

Outside′ with the inside kept, times inside′ — the forgotten inside factor is THE chain-rule error.

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Plan

Basic Calculus · Limits

Continuity: when the pencil never lifts

Value exists, limit exists, they match — or the break is a hole, a jump or an asymptote, each with its own signature.

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Plan

Basic Calculus · Derivatives

The equation of the tangent line

Point from the curve, slope from f′ evaluated at the point, then point-slope form. The slope is a number, always.

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