Today’s SAT question of the day is a math question that’s rated easy.  Follow along with me to see if that’s true – and to avoid falling into a common trap.

For all test questions everywhere, we have to remember to answer what the question is asking.  Today’s question asks us the following:

If √x = 16, √4x = ??

Don’t worry about the 16 for a moment – let’s take care of √4x first.  √4 = 2, so this expression is the same as 2√x.

We know √x = 16, so 2√x = 16 * 2 = 32.  That is your answer.

For whatever reason, students arrive at this problem at choose 64, because 16*4 = 64.

Alternately, they tell me the answer is 1024, because 16^2 = 256 and 256 * 4 = 1024.  That is true, but the didn’t ask you for 4x = they asked you for √4x.  (Also, 1024 isn’t an answer choice…that’s a good way to know you’re not in the right territory.)

As long as we stick to what the question asked us to find, we end up with the right answer with minimal effort.