Math: it really is everywhere, even the MAT. If you don’t like math, don’t worry: The Miller Analogies Test doesn’t require you to do a lot of calculation. But you do have to know a few things about the basic math a high school student would learn, as well as be familiar with numbers, even Roman numerals. These lists help fill in any math gaps you might have.

Roman numerals that appear on the MAT test

Strangely enough, we still use Roman numerals today, even though they’re more cumbersome than our normal numbering system. And since the MAT likes to test them, make sure you study the following list to get the basic rules of the Roman numbering system

As you probably remember, when smaller values precede larger values in the Roman numbering system, the smaller values are subtracted from the larger values.

  • I: 1

  • V: 5

  • X: 10

  • L: 50

  • C: 100

  • D: 500

  • M: 1,000

Arithmetic that appears on the MAT test

Arithmetic is stuff like adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. These terms are the basics of what you need to know for the MAT.

  • Addition: Combining numbers

  • Average: The number you get when you add a set of things and divide it by the number of things

  • Decimal point: A period that marks the place value for numbers with values less than 1

  • Denominator: Bottom number of a fraction

  • Difference: Answer to a subtraction problem

  • Dividend: The number that is divided in a division problem

  • Division: Finding out how many times one number can be put into another

  • Divisor: The number that divides into the dividend

  • Exponent: A small number placed to the upper right of a number that indicates how many times to multiply that number by itself

  • Factor: A number being multiplied in a multiplication problem

  • Fraction: A number that expresses part of a whole number

  • Multiplication: Adding the same number to itself a certain amount of times

  • Numerator: The top number of a fraction

  • Prime number: A number that can be divided only by itself and 1

  • Product: Answer to a multiplication problem

  • Quotient: Answer to a division problem

  • Square root: The original number’s square root is a number that, when multiplied by itself, gives you the original number

  • Subtraction: Taking one number away from another to get a smaller number

  • Sum: Answer to an addition problem

Algebra that appears on the MAT test

You don’t have to know many algebraic terms for the MAT, but you do need to be familiar with a few — and here they are.

  • Coordinates: Two points that define a position on a line graph

  • Equation: Statement that two expressions are equal

  • Parabola: Shape with one curve and two lines going away from it

Geometry that appears on the MAT test

You have to cover a bunch of geometrical terms for the MAT. Use the following lists to relearn anything you’ve forgotten from that high school geometry class.

  • Acute angle: An angle that measures less than 90 degrees

  • Angle: Space between two lines meeting at the same point, measured in degrees

  • Arc: Part of the circumference of a circle, measured in degrees

  • Area: Amount of surface a shape has

  • Circle: Round shape in which all points on the circumference are the same distance from the center

  • Circumference: Edge of a circle

  • Congruent: Identical

  • Degree: Unit of measurement for angles and arcs

  • Diameter: Line from one point to another on a circle’s circumference that passes through its center

  • Ellipse: Round shape like an oval

  • Equilateral triangle: Triangle with all sides and angles being equal

  • Geometry: Study of shapes

  • Hexagon: Shape with six sides

  • Hypotenuse: Longest side of a right triangle

  • Isosceles triangle: Triangle in which two sides and angles are equal

  • Obtuse angle: Angle that measures more than 90 degrees

  • Octagon: Shape with eight sides

  • Parallel: Two lines on the same plane that never cross

  • Parallelogram: Shape with four sides in which opposite sides are parallel to each other

  • Pentagon: Shape with five sides

  • Perimeter: Distance around the edge of a shape

  • Perpendicular: Two lines that form a 90-degree angle

  • Pi: Ratio of a circumference to its diameter; approximately 3.14

  • Polygon: Shape with all straight lines

  • Radius: Length of a line drawn from the center of a circle to a point on its circumference

  • Rectangle: Shape with four sides and four right angles

  • Rhombus: Shape with four sides but no right angles

  • Right angle: Angle that is exactly 90 degrees

  • Right triangle: Triangle that contains a right angle

  • Scalene triangle: Triangle in which no sides are the same length

  • Square: Shape with four sides of equal length

  • Trapezoid: Shape with four sides and only two sides that are parallel to each other

  • Triangle: Shape with three sides

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Vince Kotchian is a full-time standardized test tutor specializing in the MAT, SSAT, ISEE, ACT, GRE, and GMAT. He teaches a GRE prep course at the University of California, San Diego, and has an extensive understanding of analogies and the MAT.

Edwin Kotchian is a MAT tutor and freelance writer who has contributed to a variety of test-prep material.

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