Lois has x dollars more than Jim has, and together they have a total of y dollars. Which of the following represents the number of dollars that Jim has?
(A) (y - x)/2
(B) y - x/2
(C) y/2 - x
(D) 2y - x
(E) y - 2x
OA: A
Hi, Experts. Please share the solution to this problem. Thanks.
OG2015 PS Lois has x dollars
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- lionsshare
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Say Lois has $L, and Jim has $J.lionsshare wrote:Lois has x dollars more than Jim has, and together they have a total of y dollars. Which of the following represents the number of dollars that Jim has?
(A) (y - x)/2
(B) y - x/2
(C) y/2 - x
(D) 2y - x
(E) y - 2x
OA: A
Hi, Experts. Please share the solution to this problem. Thanks.
Thus, as per the condition: "Lois has x dollars more than Jim has," we get
L - J = x ---(1)
As per the second condition: "together they have a total of y dollars," we get
L + J = y ---(2)
Since we want to find out the amount of money Jim has, let's subtract (1) from (2).
We get (L + J = y) - (L - J = x)
L + J - L + J = y - x
2J = y - x
J = (y - x)/2
The correct answer: A
Hope this helps!
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Let J = number of dollars that Jim haslionsshare wrote:Lois has x dollars more than Jim has, and together they have a total of y dollars. Which of the following represents the number of dollars that Jim has?
(A) (y - x)/2
(B) y - x/2
(C) y/2 - x
(D) 2y - x
(E) y - 2x
Lois has x dollars more than Jim has
So, J + x = number of dollars that Lois has
Together they have a total of y dollars
So, (Jim's $) + (Lois' $) = y
Or: J + (J+x) = y
Simplify: 2J + x = y
Which of the following represents the number of dollars that Jim has?
Solve 2J + x = y for J
Subtract x from both sides to get: 2J = y - x
Divide both sides by 2 to get: (y-x)/2
Answer: A
Cheers,
Brent
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Hi lionsshare,
We're told that Lois has X dollars MORE than Jim has and together they have a TOTAL of Y dollars. We're asked for the number of dollars that Jim has. This question can be solved by TESTing VALUES.
IF....
Lois has 5 dollars and Jim has 2 dollars, then X = 3 and Y = 7. So we're looking for an answer that equals 2 when we plug in X = 3 and Y = 7... There's only one answer that matches:
Final Answer: A
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
We're told that Lois has X dollars MORE than Jim has and together they have a TOTAL of Y dollars. We're asked for the number of dollars that Jim has. This question can be solved by TESTing VALUES.
IF....
Lois has 5 dollars and Jim has 2 dollars, then X = 3 and Y = 7. So we're looking for an answer that equals 2 when we plug in X = 3 and Y = 7... There's only one answer that matches:
Final Answer: A
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
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- Jeff@TargetTestPrep
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- Posts: 1462
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To solve, we will set up two equations. Let's start by defining two variables.lionsshare wrote:Lois has x dollars more than Jim has, and together they have a total of y dollars. Which of the following represents the number of dollars that Jim has?
(A) (y - x)/2
(B) y - x/2
(C) y/2 - x
(D) 2y - x
(E) y - 2x
OA: A
J = number of dollars Jim has
L = number of dollars Lois has
We are given that Lois has x dollars more than Jim. We set up the following equation:
L = x + J
We are next given that together they have a total of y dollars. We can set up our second equation:
J + L = y
Since we know that L = x + J, we can substitute x + J for L in the second equation, J + L = y.
Notice that after the substitution, we will only have variables of J, x, and y. Thus, we have:
J + x + J = y
2J + x = y
2J = y - x
J = (y - x)/2
Answer: A
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