"SAT math formula sheet pdf" is typed by juniors in the winter before the spring SAT, and half of what comes back lists formulas the test already gives you and misses the ones it does not. This page separates the two. The digital SAT's reference sheet is short and appears on every math module; the forty-odd formulas below it are the ones you must carry into the room. The PDF is organised by the four content areas in the proportion the test uses them, and the last section is how to learn them in three weeks, which is enough if you write instead of read.
The sheet
Download the SAT math formula sheet (PDF, 2 pages). The first section is what the test gives you; the rest is what it does not.
What the test gives you
Every math module opens with a reference sheet: the area of a circle, rectangle and triangle, the circumference of a circle, the Pythagorean theorem, the 30-60-90 and 45-45-90 triangles, the volumes of a rectangular box, cylinder, sphere, cone and pyramid, and two facts (360 degrees in a circle, 180 in a triangle). Do not spend time memorising these; spend it knowing they are there, because students under time pressure forget to look.
What the test does not give you, by content area
Algebra, about 35 per cent of the questions. Slope from two points; the slope-intercept, point-slope and standard forms of a line; parallel slopes equal, perpendicular slopes multiply to -1; what a system with no solution or infinitely many solutions looks like; absolute value equations; and the habit of reading a word problem as "rate times quantity plus a constant". The SAT's algebra is linear, and most of it is translating English into an equation.
Advanced Math, about 35 per cent. The three forms of a quadratic and what each shows (roots, vertex, y-intercept); the quadratic formula and the discriminant; vertex x = -b/2a; sum and product of roots; the exponent and radical rules; exponential growth and decay y = a(1 + r)^t and compound interest; function transformations (shift, reflect, stretch); polynomial remainder and factor theorems; and rational equations with the domain check. This is the area that decides scores above 650, and it is the Algebra 2 course, compressed.
Problem-Solving and Data Analysis, about 15 per cent. Percent change and percent of; ratios and unit rates; unit conversion by cancelling; mean, median, mode, range; a missing value from an average; probability from a two-way table; and reading a scatterplot's line of best fit as "per unit of x". No calculation is hard here; the reading is.
Geometry and Trigonometry, about 15 per cent. Distance and midpoint; the circle equation and completing the square to find the centre; arc length and sector area; radians and degrees; the sum of interior angles of a polygon; similar triangles; SOH CAH TOA; the identity sin²θ + cos²θ = 1; the complementary identity sin x = cos(90° - x), which the SAT loves; and the occasional complex number with i² = -1.
The formulas the SAT tests most
| Formula | Why it keeps appearing |
|---|---|
| Slope m = (y₂ - y₁)/(x₂ - x₁) and y = mx + b | A third of the algebra questions are a line in disguise |
| Vertex form a(x - h)² + k, vertex x = -b/2a | "Maximum height", "minimum cost", "the vertex of the parabola" |
| Discriminant b² - 4ac | "How many real solutions" without solving |
| y = a(1 + r)^t | Every population, investment and depreciation problem |
| Percent change = (new - old)/old | Every "increased by what percent" problem |
| (x - h)² + (y - k)² = r² | The circle question in the geometry set, almost always by completing the square |
| sin x = cos(90° - x) | A one-line question that students who never saw the identity cannot start |
| Mean = sum / count | The missing-value average problem, in both modules |
How to learn them in three weeks
- Week 1, algebra and advanced math. Cover the sheet, write the section from memory every other day. Wrong or missing formulas go on a card. Then twenty questions from the released tests on those areas only.
- Week 2, data and geometry. The same. Then a full timed module.
- Week 3, everything. The whole sheet from memory in one sitting, twice. Then two full practice tests on Bluebook, the College Board's app, timed, with the mistakes sorted into "did not know the formula" and "knew it, misread the question". The second kind is fixed by reading practice, not by formula practice, and it is usually the larger pile.
Do not learn the formulas from a list and then do the test. Learn one area, use it, learn the next. A formula used in ten problems is remembered in the exam; a formula read in a list is not.
The Desmos point
The digital SAT has a graphing calculator built in, and a student who can graph a quadratic and read its vertex and roots can answer many advanced-math questions without the formula. Learn the formulas anyway, for two reasons: the calculator is slower than knowing, and questions with a variable in the answer ("in terms of k") cannot be graphed.
Where to get help
A 1-on-1 online SAT math class with a tutor who holds a master's in mathematics, from the real released tests, timed from the first month, with the twenty question types the student misses drilled rather than the whole syllabus repeated. Before school, after school or weekends, US time; the recording and notes after every class; US$10 to $13 an hour. The SAT page has the plan by month, and the free 30-minute first class is a diagnostic on one module.
Questions parents ask
1Does the SAT give you a formula sheet?
2What formulas do I need to memorise for SAT math?
3What is on the SAT math section in 2026?
4How long does it take to learn the SAT math formulas?
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Shobha
Founder and lead tutor, Science with Shobha
Teaching maths, science and English to children online since 2018. 500+ students, 20+ tutors, families in nine countries.