Strategy #17 Make Good Use of Diagrams
• Draw or extend lines in a diagram and label the givens and unknowns.
• Whenever a circle is involved, get its radius!
• Pay attention to whether or not the figure is drawn to scale. If “not drawn to scale” is not stated beneath the figure, then the figure is drawn to scale! In this case you can interpret the drawing according to how it looks. For example, If an angle appears to be 90 degrees, then it is 90 degrees; if a point appears to be the midpoint, then it is the midpoint.
• If the diagram is not drawn to scale and looks disproportionate, it may be a good idea to redraw it to make interpreting it easier. For example, if an angle in a triangle is said to be 90°, but it looks acute, redraw the triangle so that angle looks like a right angle.
• If no diagram is given, always draw one! You will most likely work faster with a picture to look at.
Example 1 (practice test 6)
Calculator ok
For this problem, no diagram is given. So draw a number line, and plot the point -4 and two points labeled x, each with 3 units on either side of the point -4.