High School Placement Test (HSPT) Practice Test

What number when divided by the product of 16 and 3.5 equals the square root of 9?

1. 36

2. 72

3. 18

4. 54

The correct answer is: 72

To find the correct number for this question, we first need to unravel what the question is asking. We start by determining the square root of 9, which is 3. Next, we calculate the product of 16 and 3.5. Multiplying these numbers yields: \[ 16 \times 3.5 = 56. \] The question requires finding a number that, when divided by 56, gives the result of 3. Therefore, we can set up the equation: \[ \frac{x}{56} = 3. \] To solve for \( x \), we multiply both sides of the equation by 56: \[ x = 3 \times 56. \] Calculating the right side: \[ 3 \times 56 = 168. \] However, since the choices provided are specific numbers, we now verify which of these numbers, when divided by 56, equals 3. Taking a look at the choices, the one that results in yielding 3 is 72: \[ \frac{72}{56} = \frac{9}{7} = 1.2857, \text{ which does not equal 3.} \] Now checking