A printer can print 15 pages an hour. How many pages can...

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swerve: Legendary Member; Posts: 2499; Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2017 2:04 pm; Followed by:6 members

A printer can print 15 pages an hour. How many pages can...

by swerve » Thu Mar 01, 2018 7:09 pm

A printer can print 15 pages an hour. How many pages can three printers print in 12 minutes at the same rate?

A. 3
B. 4
C. 6
D. 8
E. 9

The OA is E.

If a printer can print 15 pages an hour, then it can print 15/60 = 1/4 pages per minute, right?

A printer in 12 minutes can print 12*1/4 = 3 pages. If three printers work at the same rate can print 3*3 = 9 pages in 12 minutes, right?

Please, can any expert explain another way to solve this PS question for me? Thanks.

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Thu Mar 01, 2018 7:09 pm

GMAT/MBA Expert

[email protected]: Elite Legendary Member; Posts: 10392; Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pm; Location: Palo Alto, CA; Thanked: 2867 times; Followed by:511 members; GMAT Score:800

by [email protected] » Thu Mar 01, 2018 7:19 pm

Hi swerve,

We're told that a printer can print 15 pages an HOUR. We're asked for the number of pages that three printers can print in 12 MINUTES at the same rate. This is a rate question that requires some 'unit conversion'; you can do the math in several different ways though.

To start, since 1 printer can print 15 pages in 1 HOUR, then 3 printers would print a total of 45 pages in 1 hour. While 12 minutes might seem like a 'strange' number, an hour = 60 minutes, so 12 minutes would be exactly 12/60 = 1/5 of an hour.

Since the three printers print 45 total pages in 1 hour, they would print 45/5 = 9 pages total in 12 minutes.

Final Answer: E

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Contact Rich at [email protected]

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GMAT/MBA Expert

Scott@TargetTestPrep: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 8086; Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:56 am; Location: Los Angeles, CA; Thanked: 43 times; Followed by:29 members

by Scott@TargetTestPrep » Tue Mar 06, 2018 9:17 am

swerve wrote:A printer can print 15 pages an hour. How many pages can three printers print in 12 minutes at the same rate?

A. 3
B. 4
C. 6
D. 8
E. 9

The rate of 3 printers is 45 pages per hour, and, since 12 minutes = 1/5 of an hour, the 3 printers can print 45 x 1/5 = 9 pages in 12 minutes.

Answer: E

Scott Woodbury-Stewart
Founder and CEO
[email protected]