At a certain company, each employee has a salary grade s that is at least 1 and at most 5.
Each employee receives an hourly wage p, in dollars, determined by the formula p = 9.50
+ 0.25(s - 1). An employee with a salary grade of 5 receives how many more dollars per
hour than an employee with a salary grade of 1?
A. $0.50
B. $1.00
C. $1.25
D. $1.50
E. $1.75
Why is B wrong and whats the correct answer?
5-Day Free Trial
5-day free, full-access trial TTP
Available with Beat the GMAT members only code
MORE DETAILS
GMAT- Need your Guidance Set 3
This topic has expert replies
GMAT/MBA Expert
-
Brent@GMATPrepNow
- GMAT Instructor
- Posts: 16207
- Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pm
- Location: Vancouver, BC
- Thanked: 5254 times
- Followed by:1268 members
- GMAT Score:770
B IS the correct answer.Abhijit K wrote:At a certain company, each employee has a salary grade s that is at least 1 and at most 5.
Each employee receives an hourly wage p, in dollars, determined by the formula p = 9.50
+ 0.25(s - 1). An employee with a salary grade of 5 receives how many more dollars per
hour than an employee with a salary grade of 1?
A. $0.50
B. $1.00
C. $1.25
D. $1.50
E. $1.75
Why is B wrong and whats the correct answer?
SALARY GRADE OF 5
s=5
We get, hourly wage = 9.50 + 0.25(5 - 1)
= 9.50 + 0.25(4)
= 9.50 + 1
= $10.50
SALARY GRADE OF 1
s=1
We get, hourly wage = 9.50 + 0.25(1 - 1)
= 9.50 + 0.25(0)
= $9.50
$10.50 - $9.50 = [spoiler]$1[/spoiler]
Answer: B
Cheers,
Brent
Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com
-
Matt@VeritasPrep
- GMAT Instructor
- Posts: 2630
- Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2012 3:32 pm
- Location: East Bay all the way
- Thanked: 625 times
- Followed by:119 members
- GMAT Score:780
Another way to see this: since (s - 1)(.25) is what we're adding to our base (9.50), every salary grade is exactly .25 greater than the one below it. (Grade 2 is .25 greater than Grade 1; Grade 3 is .25 greater than Grade 2, etc.)
Since Grade 5 is FOUR grades higher than Grade 1, Grade 5 must be $.25 * 4, or $1, greater than Grade 1.
Since Grade 5 is FOUR grades higher than Grade 1, Grade 5 must be $.25 * 4, or $1, greater than Grade 1.
-
towerSpider
- Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
- Posts: 155
- Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2010 11:02 am
- Thanked: 3 times
in case of 5:
p = 9.50 + 0.25(s - 1)
Putting values
p = 9.50 + 0.25(5 - 1)
p = 9.50 + 0.25(4)
p = 9.50 + 1
p = 10.5
in case of 1:
p = 9.50 + 0.25(s - 1)
Putting values
p = 9.50 + 0.25(1 - 1)
p = 9.50 + 0.25(0)
p = 9.50 + 0
p = 9.5
Subtracting:
$1
p = 9.50 + 0.25(s - 1)
Putting values
p = 9.50 + 0.25(5 - 1)
p = 9.50 + 0.25(4)
p = 9.50 + 1
p = 10.5
in case of 1:
p = 9.50 + 0.25(s - 1)
Putting values
p = 9.50 + 0.25(1 - 1)
p = 9.50 + 0.25(0)
p = 9.50 + 0
p = 9.5
Subtracting:
$1
People are not prisoners of fate, but prisoners of their own mind.
-
towerSpider
- Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
- Posts: 155
- Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2010 11:02 am
- Thanked: 3 times
2nd method:Abhijit K wrote:At a certain company, each employee has a salary grade s that is at least 1 and at most 5.
Each employee receives an hourly wage p, in dollars, determined by the formula p = 9.50
+ 0.25(s - 1). An employee with a salary grade of 5 receives how many more dollars per
hour than an employee with a salary grade of 1?
A. $0.50
B. $1.00
C. $1.25
D. $1.50
E. $1.75
Why is B wrong and whats the correct answer?
9.50 + 0.25(s - 1) - (9.50 + 0.25(s - 1))
.25(4)-.25(0)
$1
People are not prisoners of fate, but prisoners of their own mind.
