Actually you can’t, at least not prohibited plastic or metal ones.
"Too bad," you might be thinking. It would make answering most geometry questions a whole lot easier.
But you can easily and legally improvise each of these tools with materials you're allowed to use on the SAT/ACT.
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Ruler
Along the edge of your scratch paper, mark the endpoints of a segment of known length taken from the given figure. Add a mark in the middle, to indicate the half-way point. Knowing the overall length of this “ruler,” and the length of the half-way mark, you can lay the ruler over the segment you need to find in the figure (on screen or on paper) to closely guess its length. Now, eliminate answers, and choose the best one remaining.
Protractor
You can create a “protractor” by using the right angle at any corner of your scratch paper. Carefully fold your scratch paper edge-to-edge at the corner. This forms a perfect 45 degree angle. Fold it again, like you’re making a paper airplane. Unfold and flatten the page. The angles formed are 22.5 degrees each. You’ve now created a “protractor” with angles 22.5 degrees, 45 degrees, 67.5 degrees and 90 degrees.
Straight-Edge
The edge of a sharply-folded scratch page makes an excellent edge for quickly drawing perfectly straight lines. In mathematics, neatness matters, nowhere more so than in the realm of geometry.
Along the edge of your scratch paper, mark the endpoints of a segment of known length taken from the given figure. Add a mark in the middle, to indicate the half-way point. Knowing the overall length of this “ruler,” and the length of the half-way mark, you can lay the ruler over the segment you need to find in the figure (on screen or on paper) to closely guess its length. Now, eliminate answers, and choose the best one remaining.
Protractor
You can create a “protractor” by using the right angle at any corner of your scratch paper. Carefully fold your scratch paper edge-to-edge at the corner. This forms a perfect 45 degree angle. Fold it again, like you’re making a paper airplane. Unfold and flatten the page. The angles formed are 22.5 degrees each. You’ve now created a “protractor” with angles 22.5 degrees, 45 degrees, 67.5 degrees and 90 degrees.
Straight-Edge
The edge of a sharply-folded scratch page makes an excellent edge for quickly drawing perfectly straight lines. In mathematics, neatness matters, nowhere more so than in the realm of geometry.
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Note:
To form nice, sharp edges, run your pen or pencil firmly across the folds as you create each crease.
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Copyright © 2006-present: Christopher R. Borland. All rights reserved.
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