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overlapping sets-challenge

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Night reader GMAT Titan Default Avatar
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overlapping sets-challenge Post Thu Dec 02, 2010 3:59 am
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  • Lap #[LAPCOUNT] ([LAPTIME])
    In 1997, N people graduated from college. If 1/3 of them received a degree in the applied sciences, and, of those, 1/4 graduated from a school in one of six northeastern states, which of the following expressions represents the number of people who graduated from college in 1997 who did not both receive a degree in the applied sciences and graduate from a school in one of six northeastern states?

    (A) 11N/12
    (B) 7N/12
    (C) 5N/12
    (D) 6N/7
    (E) N/7

    I was unable to solve this

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    Rahul@gurome GMAT Instructor
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    Post Thu Dec 02, 2010 4:16 am
    Night reader wrote:
    In 1997, N people graduated from college. If 1/3 of them received a degree in the applied sciences, and, of those, 1/4 graduated from a school in one of six northeastern states, which of the following expressions represents the number of people who graduated from college in 1997 who did not both receive a degree in the applied sciences and graduate from a school in one of six northeastern states?

    (A) 11N/12
    (B) 7N/12
    (C) 5N/12
    (D) 6N/7
    (E) N/7

    I was unable to solve this
    Number of people graduated from college = N
    Number of people received a degree = N/3
    Number of people received a degree and graduated from a school = (1/4)*(N/3) = N/12

    Thus number of people who graduated from college and did not both receive a degree and graduated from a school = (N - N/12) = 11N/12

    The correct answer is A.

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    Post Thu Dec 02, 2010 5:15 am
    Night reader wrote:
    In 1997, N people graduated from college. If 1/3 of them received a degree in the applied sciences, and, of those, 1/4 graduated from a school in one of six northeastern states, which of the following expressions represents the number of people who graduated from college in 1997 who did not both receive a degree in the applied sciences and graduate from a school in one of six northeastern states?

    (A) 11N/12
    (B) 7N/12
    (C) 5N/12
    (D) 6N/7
    (E) N/7

    I was unable to solve this
    We can plug in our own value for N. We should choose a number that is divisible by the denominators of the two fractions in the problem (1/3 and 1/4).

    Let N = 3*4 = 12.
    Received a degree = 1/3 * 12 = 4.
    Received a degree and graduated from one of the six schools = 1/4 * 4 = 1.
    Since only 1 person both received a degree and graduated from one of the six schools, the number who didn't do both = 12-1 = 11. This is our target.

    Now we plug N=12 into all the answers to see which yields our target of 11.

    Only answer choice A works:
    11/12*N = 11/12 * 12 = 11.

    The correct answer is A.

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    Post Fri Feb 04, 2011 9:55 am
    One quick way of doing this can be as below:

    since we see 2 denominators 3 and 4, i will take a big common multiple...say 60


    so out of 60, 20 received a degree in applied science. out of this 20, 4 graduated from school.

    thus, the reverse combination of 5 is 60-5 = 55

    if we take the first option itself : 60 * 11 / 12 = 55.

    Night reader wrote:
    In 1997, N people graduated from college. If 1/3 of them received a degree in the applied sciences, and, of those, 1/4 graduated from a school in one of six northeastern states, which of the following expressions represents the number of people who graduated from college in 1997 who did not both receive a degree in the applied sciences and graduate from a school in one of six northeastern states?

    (A) 11N/12
    (B) 7N/12
    (C) 5N/12
    (D) 6N/7
    (E) N/7

    I was unable to solve this

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    VivianKerr GMAT Instructor
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    Post Fri Feb 04, 2011 11:40 am
    These questions can also be solved using a Venn diagram to make sense of the information:



    The key to understanding this question lies in the last sentence:

    who did not both receive a degree in the applied sciences and graduate from a school in one of six northeastern states?

    We have two categories to sum: the people who ONLY received a science degree but NOT from one of the 6 schools, and the people who ONLY went to the 6 schools but did NOT receive a science degree. I made up variables for these categories (x and y).

    If N = 12, there are 4 applied science students, 1 of which is both. That means x = 3. If 4 students are applied science, then 12-4 = 8 are from one of the six states but NOT applied science. y = 8.

    3 + 8 = 11

    So we are looking for an answer choice that gives us 11 when N = 12; the answer is A.

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    Post Fri Feb 04, 2011 10:41 pm
    Night reader wrote:
    In 1997, N people graduated from college. If 1/3 of them received a degree in the applied sciences, and, of those, 1/4 graduated from a school in one of six northeastern states, which of the following expressions represents the number of people who graduated from college in 1997 who did not both receive a degree in the applied sciences and graduate from a school in one of six northeastern states?

    (A) 11N/12
    (B) 7N/12
    (C) 5N/12
    (D) 6N/7
    (E) N/7

    I was unable to solve this
    of course it's simple calc, I was stamped in Dec Smile
    1/3 N are awarded AS degrees
    1/3N * 1/4 are graduates of NA states --> 1/12 N both grads and NA states
    (1-1/12)N=11/12 N

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    Post Wed Jun 08, 2011 6:37 am
    VivianKerr wrote:
    These questions can also be solved using a Venn diagram to make sense of the information:



    The key to understanding this question lies in the last sentence:

    who did not both receive a degree in the applied sciences and graduate from a school in one of six northeastern states?

    We have two categories to sum: the people who ONLY received a science degree but NOT from one of the 6 schools, and the people who ONLY went to the 6 schools but did NOT receive a science degree. I made up variables for these categories (x and y).

    If N = 12, there are 4 applied science students, 1 of which is both. That means x = 3. If 4 students are applied science, then 12-4 = 8 are from one of the six states but NOT applied science. y = 8.

    3 + 8 = 11

    So we are looking for an answer choice that gives us 11 when N = 12; the answer is A.
    THANK YOU FOR EXPLANATION USING DIAGRAM. CAN YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN USING MATRIX TABLE. I AM TRYING TO DO IT USING MATRIX AS SECOND OPTION BUT NOT ABLE TO FIND RIGHT SOLUTION.

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    Post Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:01 am
    Quote:
    In 1997, N people graduated from college. If 1/3 of them received a degree in the applied sciences, and, of those, 1/4 graduated from a school in one of six northeastern states, which of the following expressions represents the number of people who graduated from college in 1997 who did not both receive a degree in the applied sciences and graduate from a school in one of six northeastern states?
    Graduation=N
    degree in applied science (D) = n/3
    D + graduation from 6 north eastern states (GS)= (1/4)*(n/3) = n/12
    thus neither D nor GS = n - n/12 = 11n/12
    IMO A

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    gmat3last Just gettin' started! Default Avatar
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    Post Mon Jun 20, 2011 12:16 pm
    ok here i was completely stumped from a different angle. I read the question as the segment who is neither an applied science graduate NOR a NE school graduate...instead of reading it as the segmentS who did not do BOTH 1) apply science graduate and 2) NE school graduate.

    winniethepooh GMAT Destroyer! Default Avatar
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    Post Mon Jun 20, 2011 11:35 pm
    Same here,tricky one, but makes sense, awesome work experts!!
    Vivian, Mitch and Rahul, I wonder how you guys actually crack that!

    amit2k9 GMAT Destroyer!
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    Post Wed Jun 22, 2011 5:01 am
    n- 1/4*1/3*n = 11n/12 it is.

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    Post Wed Jun 22, 2011 6:24 am
    yes 11N/12 is the ans

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    Post Thu Dec 08, 2011 2:33 am
    Can anyone please explain me this question in more detail through a table or flowchart i am still not able to get it.

    ronnie1985 GMAT Destroyer!
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    Post Fri Apr 06, 2012 10:56 am
    11n/12
    QED

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    Post Wed Feb 20, 2013 5:59 pm
    Can anybody please point out what am I missing in my approach? I am using matrix method to solve it.

    Let, Graduate students who got Applied Science degree = AS
    Graduate students who did not get Applied Science degree = Not AS
    Graduate students who were from north-eastern states = NES
    Graduate students who were not from north-eastern states = NOT NES

    Matrix (please click on image to see the full matrix)
    ------


    We want to calculate x but according to the matrix it can't be determined. Please guide what am I missing here?

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