Importance of formulas

[Kurgen525]

I'm studying for the OAT and one thing the Kaplan big book keeps bringing up is all sorts of formulas and making me calculate things it seems.

Given that the test is all multiple choice, how critical is it to really know these formulas? Or even be able to calculate those problems?

I can't imagine the test has tons of "calculate" and "explain" problem right? And even if it does, don't the questions have to be relatively straight forward to be able to do without a calculator?

For people who have already taken the test, what's your take on this?

Thanks!

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[chb64]

Hi! I'm actually wondering the same thing! Looking at my OAT destroyer, there is a page where it says to know the following formulas:

Perimeters of:
Square (P = 4s)
Rectangle (P = 2L + 2W)
Circle: (C = 2(pi)r)

Area formulas:
Square (r = s^2)
Rectangle (A = LW)
Circle (A = (pi)r^2)
Triangle (A = 1/2 bh)

Volume:
Cube, Rectangular solid, cylinder, sphere

Simple Interest: I = Prt

Types of angles (obtuse, acute, right)

The standard equation of a circle with center (h,k) and radius r: (x-h)^2 + (y-k)^2,

SOH CAH TOA

the trig identities (9 of them)

I am not sure if these are sufficient (I havent' written the exam yet)...if someone's who's recently taken OAT and could let us know if these equations are good enough, that would be much appreciated!

 

[goirisheyes]

I haven't taken my OAT yet but these articles are pretty informative on what formulas we'll need to know. The list above is probably fairly sufficient for quantitative reasoning, but there are several to know for physics! (and definitely all forms of PV=nRT for gen chem).

Optometry Students Dot Com (can't post URL, it keeps turning into "*************.com"):

Know These Equations for the OAT
OAT Test Prep Physics

If anyone has any other lists/resources, please share

 

[Loptometriste]

Go take the sample test that ADA supplies for you. The test isn't designed to be easy. You do need to know formulas.

https://www.ada.org/oat/

 

[dsm09]

Hi! I'm actually wondering the same thing! Looking at my OAT destroyer, there is a page where it says to know the following formulas:

Perimeters of:
Square (P = 4s)
Rectangle (P = 2L + 2W)
Circle: (C = 2(pi)r)

Area formulas:
Square (r = s^2)
Rectangle (A = LW)
Circle (A = (pi)r^2)
Triangle (A = 1/2 bh)

Volume:
Cube, Rectangular solid, cylinder, sphere

Simple Interest: I = Prt

Types of angles (obtuse, acute, right)

The standard equation of a circle with center (h,k) and radius r: (x-h)^2 + (y-k)^2,

SOH CAH TOA

the trig identities (9 of them)

I am not sure if these are sufficient (I havent' written the exam yet)...if someone's who's recently taken OAT and could let us know if these equations are good enough, that would be much appreciated!

what are the 9 trig identities that we should know? Ive havent had any practice problems that deal with trig identities. Ive done 4 full practice tests and i usually have a 350+ on every one in QR section, but know Im getting stressed out since i havent really covered any of the trig identities, and my OAT is next week

 

[chb64]

cot(x) = t/tan(x)

cos(x) = 1/sec(x)

tan(x) = sin(x)/cos(x)

sin^2 + cos^2 = 1

1 + cot^2 = csc^2

sin(x) = 1/csc(x)

tan(x) = 1/cot(x)

cot(x) = cos(x)/sin(x)

1 + tan^2 = sec^2
___________________________________________

That's what the OAT destroyer has... a friend of mine told me to know them too...which practice tests are you doing? OAT achiever? I'm also worried about the QR portion as apparently Kaplan's QR content review isn't representative of the real OAT. :S

 

[EyEnStein 07]

cot(x) = t/tan(x)

cos(x) = 1/sec(x)

tan(x) = sin(x)/cos(x)

sin^2 + cos^2 = 1

1 + cot^2 = csc^2

sin(x) = 1/csc(x)

tan(x) = 1/cot(x)

cot(x) = cos(x)/sin(x)

1 + tan^2 = sec^2
___________________________________________

That's what the OAT destroyer has... a friend of mine told me to know them too...which practice tests are you doing? OAT achiever? I'm also worried about the QR portion as apparently Kaplan's QR content review isn't representative of the real OAT. :S

....do you really need to know all 9
dont commit all of those to memory, you only really need 2-3 and you can derive the rest as needed.

 

[chb64]

you're right, you don't have to memorize all of them, they are easily derivable from each other!