Cooperative Admissions Examination (COOP) Practice Exam 2025 – Your All-in-One Guide to Exam Success!

The presence of variables is a defining characteristic of algebraic problems. In algebra, letters are used to represent numbers in equations and expressions, allowing for the manipulation of these variables to solve for unknown values. This flexibility and abstraction are what distinguish algebra from other types of math problems.

In contrast, purely arithmetic problems typically involve only numbers and operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division, without the inclusion of variables. True/False questions generally assess knowledge or understanding rather than math problem-solving and do not incorporate variables. Spatial problems may deal with geometric shapes and measurements, which may not necessarily involve algebraic variables unless they are framed in a way that requires using expressions to solve for unknown dimensions.

Thus, the identification of algebraic problems as the type of math problems that include variables is based on the fundamental nature of algebra itself, making it the correct choice.