DS question from GMAT PREP - III

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DS question from GMAT PREP - III

by jay2007 » Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:12 pm
Can somebody help me in solving this problem?
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by achandwa » Tue Oct 09, 2007 11:42 am
Assume Bob made Y items last week. Thus he made:

36 * X + (Y-36) * 1.5X - assuming Y > 36, or
36 * X - if Y <= 36

i) Bob made $480 last week

Therefore, 36 * X + (Y-36) * 1.5X = 480 - since we do not know if Y <=36 we need to consider this general case.
2 variables and one equation - not sufficient to solve

ii) Bob made 2 more items this week than he did last week and he made $510. Thus he made Y+2 items this week and,

36 * X + (Y+2-36) * 1.5X = 510.
36 * X + (Y-34) * 1.5X = 510
Again 2 variables and one equation - not sufficient to solve

But combining i) and ii), we have 2 variables and 2 unknowns. That's enough info to solve the problem. Hence C.

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by santsark » Tue Oct 09, 2007 11:18 pm
achandwa - you are making an assumption that Y>36.

If this assumption is not true, then won't the answer be different.

I think it should be E.

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by achandwa » Wed Oct 10, 2007 4:33 am
On second thought, I think you are right. Thanks for pointing it out.

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by jay2007 » Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:44 pm
santsark is right. I also assumed that y > 36 and choose C, which is not the right answer.

OA is E.