Tree planted

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Tree planted

by gmatblood » Wed Nov 02, 2011 3:45 am
when a certain tree was first planted, it was 4 feet tall and the geight of the tree increased by a constant and each year for the next 6 years. At the end of the 6th year, tree was 1/5 taller than it was at the end of the 4th year. By how many feet did the height of three increse every year?

1.3/10
2.2/5
3.1/2
4.2/3
5.6/5

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by user123321 » Wed Nov 02, 2011 3:49 am
gmatblood wrote:when a certain tree was first planted, it was 4 feet tall and the geight of the tree increased by a constant and each year for the next 6 years. At the end of the 6th year, tree was 1/5 taller than it was at the end of the 4th year. By how many feet did the height of three increse every year?

1.3/10
2.2/5
3.1/2
4.2/3
5.6/5
initial height = 4 ft
say C is the height it is getting increased every year for 6 years, then
1.2(4+4C) = (4+6C)
C = 2/3

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by gmatblood » Wed Nov 02, 2011 4:37 am
Watching for a better solution!

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by shankar.ashwin » Wed Nov 02, 2011 4:51 am
Let the tree grow by 'x' each year.
When planted height =4
1st year = 4+ x
2nd year =4 + 2x and so on.

4th year would be = 4+4x and 6th would be = 4+6x.

Given, height at 6th year = 1/5 (more than 4th year) = 4th year + 1/5(4th year) = 6/5(4th year)

(4+6x) = 6/5(4+4x). Solve for 'x'

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by Anurag@Gurome » Wed Nov 02, 2011 4:56 am
gmatblood wrote:when a certain tree was first planted, it was 4 feet tall and the geight of the tree increased by a constant and each year for the next 6 years. At the end of the 6th year, tree was 1/5 taller than it was at the end of the 4th year. By how many feet did the height of three increse every year?

1.3/10
2.2/5
3.1/2
4.2/3
5.6/5
Let the height by which the tree increased constantly each year be x ft.
At the end of the 1st year, height of tree = 4 + x
At the end of the 2nd year, height of tree = 4 + 2x
...
At the end of the 6th year, height of the tree = 4 + 6x
It is given that at the end of the 6th year, the tree was 1/5 taller than it was at the end of the 4th year, so 4 + 6x = (1 + 1/5) * (4 + 4x)
Solving, we get, 20 + 30x = 24 + 24x
6x = 4
x = 2/3

The correct answer is D.
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by vaibhavgupta » Wed Nov 02, 2011 1:21 pm
gmatblood wrote:when a certain tree was first planted, it was 4 feet tall and the geight of the tree increased by a constant and each year for the next 6 years. At the end of the 6th year, tree was 1/5 taller than it was at the end of the 4th year. By how many feet did the height of three increse every year?

1.3/10
2.2/5
3.1/2
4.2/3
5.6/5
Let the height grow every year be x
then after 4 years height of tree = 4+4x
& after 6= 4+6x
now "At the end of the 6th year, tree was 1/5 taller than it was at the end of the 4th year".
so, 6/5*(4+4x)=6+4x

solving, we get x=2/3
Hence D
If OA is A, IMO B
If OA is B, IMO C
If OA is C, IMO D
If OA is D, IMO E
If OA is E, IMO A

FML!! :/

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by GMATGuruNY » Thu Nov 03, 2011 8:57 am
gmatblood wrote:when a certain tree was first planted, it was 4 feet tall and the geight of the tree increased by a constant and each year for the next 6 years. At the end of the 6th year, tree was 1/5 taller than it was at the end of the 4th year. By how many feet did the height of three increse every year?

1.3/10
2.2/5
3.1/2
4.2/3
5.6/5
We can plug in the answers, which represent the growth each year.
Since the height in the 6th year is 6/5 the height in the 4th year, the needed ratio is 6th year : 4th year = 6:5.

Answer choice C: 1/2 each year.
4th year = 4 + 4(1/2) = 6.
6th year = 6 + 2(1/2) = 7.
6th : 4th = 7:6.
Since 7/6 is just a bit less than 6/5, the difference between the 6th year and the 4th year needs to increase by just a little.

The correct answer is D.

Note that, to determine the correct answer, we had to try only ONE answer choice -- a very efficient way to solve the problem.

Answer choice D: 2/3 each year.
4th year = 4 + 4(2/3) = 20/3.
6th year = 20/3 + 2(2/3) = 24/3.
6th : 4th = 24:20 = 6:5.
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by 1947 » Wed Nov 09, 2011 8:42 pm
Mitch,

Plugging in numbers is a good technique....How can we learn when to use this methid instead of solving algebraically ?

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by Anaira Mitch » Sat Jan 14, 2017 1:23 pm
Let x be the height of the tree increase each year, then:
[4+6x-(4+4x)]/(4+4x) = 1/5
10x = 4+ 4x
x= 2/3

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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sat Jan 14, 2017 1:55 pm
When a certain tree was first planted, it was 4 feet tall, and the height of the tree increased by a certain amount each year for the next 6 years. At the end of the 6th year, the tree was 1/5 taller than it was at the end of the 4th year. By how many feet did the height of the tree increase each year?

A. 3/10
B. 2/5
C. 1/2
D. 2/3
E. 6/5
Height of tree on day 0 = 4
Let d = the height increase each year
Height of tree at the end of the 1st year = 4+d
Height of tree at the end of the 2nd year = 4+d+d = 4 + 2d
Height of tree at the end of the 3rd year = 4+d+d+d = 4 + 3d
Height of tree at the end of the 4th year = 4+d+d+d+d = 4 + 4d
Height of tree at the end of the 5th year = 4+d+d+d+d+d = 4 + 5d
Height of tree at the end of the 6th year = 4+d+d+d+d+d+d = 4 + 6d

At the end of the 6th year, the tree was 1/5 taller than it was at the end of the 4th year
In other words, 6th year height = 4th year height + 1/5(4th year height)
Or we can write 4 + 6d = (4 + 4d) + 1/5(4 + 4d)
Simplify: 4 + 6d = 6/5(4 + 4d)
Multiply both sides by 5 to get: 5(4 + 6d) = 6(4 + 4d)
Expand: 20 + 30d = 24 + 24d
Simplify: 6d = 4
d = 4/6 = [spoiler]2/3[/spoiler] = D

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by [email protected] » Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:48 pm
Hi All,

TESTing the ANSWERS is a great way to tackle this question. The "fast" way to solve a problem can still sometimes take time, but regardless of how you approach a prompt, you still need to take notes and stay organized.

If we start with Answer C (1/2 foot growth per year), here's what we'd have:

Start = 4 ft
Yr. 1 = 4 1/2
Yr. 2 = 5
Yr. 3 = 5 1/2
Yr. 4 = 6
Yr. 5 = 6 1/2
Yr. 6 = 7

It doesn't make much time/effort to take these notes. Now, compare Year 6 to Year 4....Is it 1/5 greater? 7 to 6 is 1/6 greater, so answer C is not what we're looking for. It also gives us a "nudge" in the right direction. We need a 1/5 increase, but we only have a 1/6 increase right now....so we need a bigger increase.....so we need a bigger absolute increase each year. The correct answer has to be D or E.

Looking at all 5 choices as a group, I'm pretty sure the answer is D (since E is SO much bigger), but we can certainly prove it...

Start = 4 ft
Yr. 1 = 4 2/3
Yr. 2 = 5 1/3
Yr. 3 = 6
Yr. 4 = 6 2/3
Yr. 5 = 7 1/3
Yr. 6 = 8

This comparison requires a bit more math, but isn't "crazy" by any definition.

6 2/3 = 20/3
8 = 24/3

Ignore the denominators....24 to 20..... 1/5 of 20 = 4.....24 IS 1/5 greater than 20.

Final Answer: D

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by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Thu Jan 19, 2017 4:45 pm
gmatblood wrote:when a certain tree was first planted, it was 4 feet tall and the geight of the tree increased by a constant and each year for the next 6 years. At the end of the 6th year, tree was 1/5 taller than it was at the end of the 4th year. By how many feet did the height of three increse every year?

A) 3/10
B) 2/5
C) 1/2
D) 2/3
E) 6/5
When a certain tree was first planted, it was 4 feet tall, and the height of the tree increased by a constant amount each year for the next 6 years. Since we know that the growth is by a constant amount, we have a linear growth problem. Thus, we can let x = the yearly growth amount in feet:

Starting height = 4

Height after year one = 4 + x

Height after year two = 4 + 2x

Height after year three = 4 + 3x

Height after year four = 4 + 4x

Height after year five = 4 + 5x

Height after year six = 4 + 6x

We are also given that at the end of the 6th year the tree was 1/5 taller than it was at the end of the 4th year. This means the height of the tree at the end of the 6th year is 6/5 times as tall as its height at the end of the 4th year. Thus, we can create the following equation:

(6/5)(4 + 4x) = 4 + 6x

To eliminate the fraction 6/5, we multiply the entire equation by 5:

6(4 + 4x) = 20 + 30x

24 + 24x = 20 + 30x

6x = 4

x = 4/6 = 2/3 feet

Answer: D

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