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variables

by anjaligeorge1 » Tue Jun 24, 2008 3:44 pm
Leo can buy a certain computer for p1 dollars in State A, where the sales tax is t1 percent, or he can
buy the same computer for p2 dollars in State B, where the sales tax is t2 percent. Is the total cost
of the computer greater in State A than in State B?
(1) t1 > t2
(2) p1t1 > p2t2
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by anshul265 » Tue Jun 24, 2008 7:26 pm
Answer E.

i) t1>t2

Let t1 be 50% and t2 be 10%.
Value of p1 and p2 is not known. It can be 100 or 1000. So, INSUFFICIENT.

ii) p1t1>p2t2

Let t1 be 50% and t2 be 10%.

Case 1: Say p1=100 and p2=300
So, p1t1=50 and p2t2=30
p1t1 is greater than p2t2 but p1 is less than p2. Total cost in A<B.

Case 1: Say p1=500 and p2=300
So, p1t1=250 and p2t2=30
Total cost in A>B.

INSUFFICIENT.

Both (i) and (ii) taken together also do not solve it as seen in (ii).

Thus, E
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by gmat740 » Fri Aug 14, 2009 1:25 am
Hi,

Sorry for opening this thread again. Can anybody provide me another method rather than plugging values.

Thanks
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by sbasha » Fri Aug 14, 2009 11:05 am
Gmat 740,

I dont know whether this one is going to help you , But my view is like this

Stm1 gives ONLY TAX RATE - so insufficient

Stm2 gives ONLY TOTAL TAX ( not the base price) - so insufficient.


BTW : The Need to know values must be : Price and Tax.
as you know .


Regards
Syed Basha
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by mohit11 » Thu Jun 03, 2010 3:40 am
Can some one explain why my approach is wrong. I think C should be the answer.

Total cost in state A = p1 + p1t1/100
Total cost in State B = p2 + p2t2/100

Question i whether p1 + p1t1/100 > p2 + p2t2/100

1. Nothing about p1 and p2 , insuff
2. p1t1 >p2t2 - we dont know anything about P1 and p2 SO insuff.

Combined. since T1 >t2

Therefore p1t1>p2t2 implies that P1 > P2 ---> Is this correct??

If that is the case ... We know that p1 is > p2 and P1t1> p2t2 . Therefore Total cost in A is > total cost in B.

Please dont suggest a number picking strategy.
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by mj78ind » Fri Jun 04, 2010 8:48 am
mohit11 wrote:Can some one explain why my approach is wrong. I think C should be the answer.

Total cost in state A = p1 + p1t1/100
Total cost in State B = p2 + p2t2/100

Question i whether p1 + p1t1/100 > p2 + p2t2/100

1. Nothing about p1 and p2 , insuff
2. p1t1 >p2t2 - we dont know anything about P1 and p2 SO insuff.

Combined. since T1 >t2

Therefore p1t1>p2t2 implies that P1 > P2 ---> Is this correct??

If that is the case ... We know that p1 is > p2 and P1t1> p2t2 . Therefore Total cost in A is > total cost in B.

Please dont suggest a number picking strategy.
@Mohit11

The assumption that if p1t1 > p2t2 implies p1>p2 is flawed.
We can only infer t1/t2 > p2/p1
There are may ways where in p2>p1 yet t1>t2 ....
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by Bharat » Fri Jun 04, 2010 7:34 pm
Mohit11: to add one more point - as per the questions language, P1 & P2 are the total costs (including tax). Hence the comparison is not direct.
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by pnk » Sat Jun 05, 2010 4:07 am
Alternate approach:

we need to check: p1(100+t1) > p2(100+t2) - lets call it inequality E

Lets assume E is correct => p1(100+t1)-p2(100+t2) > 0
=> 100 (p1-p2) + (p1t1 - p2t2) > 0

Now apply both statements. S1 gives no information about either part of above quality NOT SUFFICIENT

S2 gives hint only about (p1t1-p2t2)>0, but no info about (p1-p2). NOT SUFFICIENT

S1& S2: same situation as S2 above. NOT SUFFICIENT

ans E

Do you find it useful.
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by thebigkats » Thu Dec 30, 2010 11:29 am
what we need to find out is whether p1 > p2 or not where p1 = (A + A*t1/100) and p2 = (B + B*t2/100) with A and B being the base prices in respective states

STAT #1:
only tells about t1 but gives us no clue about A or B to make any decision


STAT #2:

p1t1 > p2t2
==> p1 / p2 > t2 / t1 (note from stat #1 - t1 > t2)
==> p1 / p2 > 0.xx (given that t1 is greater than t2, t2/t1 will result in a decimal no less than 1)
==> p1 can be same as p2 (1 > 0.xx) , bigger than p2 ( 1.yy > 0.xx) or even less than p2 (0.yy > 0.xx)

So both statements are inconclusive
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by edvhou812 » Wed Mar 02, 2011 11:51 pm
1) T1>T2
Says taxes in State A are higher than State B, but tells us nothing about dollar value of P1 or P2. INSUFF

2) P1*T1>P2*T2
Proper formula for calculating taxes would be P1+(P1*T1). These equations basically tell us that T1 is greater than T2. INSUFF

All we know from either statement is that T1 is greater than T2, but that does not answer the question, so answer is E.
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by coolly01 » Wed Apr 20, 2011 6:32 am
anjaligeorge1 wrote:Leo can buy a certain computer for p1 dollars in State A, where the sales tax is t1 percent, or he can
buy the same computer for p2 dollars in State B, where the sales tax is t2 percent. Is the total cost
of the computer greater in State A than in State B?
(1) t1 > t2
(2) p1t1 > p2t2
IMO: C
I will explain if my pick is right
Thanks
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by MAAJ » Wed Apr 20, 2011 3:08 pm
IMO (E)

(p1t1)/100 + p1 > (p2t2)/100 + p2 ?

multiplying by 100 -> p1t1 + 100p1 > p2t2 + 100p2?

(1) t1 > t2 is insufficient

(2) p1t1 > p2t2

p1t1 + 100p1 > p2t2 + 100p2?
We don't know the relation between p1 and p2 insufficient

(3) Combined:

t1 > t2
p1t1 > p2t2

It could be that p1 > p2 or p1 < p2
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by shingik » Sun Sep 04, 2011 7:33 pm
I am not really seeing how this can be done without a number picking strategy. It seems to me whether you write them down or not you will at least imagine some numbers. Is there something wrong with a number picking strategy? Please let me know if there is because I am trying to improve my quant score and I have been using it extensively lately. Or does it just bother Math purists?
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by zander21 » Wed Oct 12, 2011 1:01 pm
Isn't this asking if p1t1 > p2t2 ? Isn't the "total cost the cost + tax?" In that case, B tells us that p1t1 > p2t2...this is confusing. A little help. If there were an AWA I'd say it's flaw is the unclear definition of terms, ha.
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by prashant misra » Sat Oct 22, 2011 9:31 am
i misread the question and took it to be p1t1%>thanp2t2% and ended up getting wrong percent actually the answer should be statement E and i chose wrong one.
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