I came across a list of SAT facts to memorize, but I wonder if it’s dated.

Can you tell me if these geometry facts/formulas will be on the SAT?

1. Definition of a regular polygon.
2. The sum of the inside angles of an n-sided regular polygon is (n−2)·180◦.
3. Area of a parallelogram.
4. Definition and area of a rhombus.
5. Area of a rectangular solid.
6. Area of a right cylinder.

Thanks,
Kevin

That’s definitely not a list of the most important things to know for geometry on the SAT (which is at most 6 questions per test, often less). It’s missing important things like circle properties and the circle equation, which are common topics. Regular polygons do appear occasionally, and (n-2)\times 180^\circ could be useful (but certainly not on every test). The rest of the list is pretty weak.

I suppose a rhombus could appear, although the word “rhombus” doesn’t appear in any of the released tests, so I don’t think you need to know the definition (even though I bet you already do). I can’t think of a parallelogram area question on any tests I’ve seen.

You’re given the formulas for volume of a rectangular solid and a right cylinder in the beginning of every math section (where you’re also given much more important facts like the special right triangles and the Pythagorean Theorem). It’s good to know how to find their surface areas, too, but it’s probably sufficient just to know the basic concept of surface area—I wouldn’t recommend memorizing formulas to one of my students.

 

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