A certain business produced x rakes each month form November

Question

Your input here will be much appreciated. Thank you

A certain business produced x rakes each month form November through February and shipped x/2 rakes at the beginning of each month from March through October. The business paid no storage costs for the rakes from November through February, but it paid storage costs of $0.10 per rake each month from March through October for the rakes that had not been shipped. In terms of x, what was the total storage cost, in dollars, that the business paid for the rakes for the 12 months form November through October?

A. 0.40x
B. 1.20x
C. 1.40x
D. 1.60x
E. 3.20x

abhi332 · Answer

In 4 months(Nov-Feb) company had produced = 4x

from march to oct , number of racks available = x * n/2(2a+(n-1)d) = x* |7/2(-2*3.5+(7-1)0.5)| -- negative sign as quantity decreases

from march to oct , number of racks available = x * 14

for march to oct expenditure will be = x * 14 * 0.1 = 1.4 x

therefore, ans is C

ajith · Answer

imane81 wrote:Your input here will be much appreciated. Thank you

A certain business produced x rakes each month form November through February and shipped x/2 rakes at the beginning of each month from March through October. The business paid no storage costs for the rakes from November through February, but it paid storage costs of $0.10 per rake each month from March through October for the rakes that had not been shipped. In terms of x, what was the total storage cost, in dollars, that the business paid for the rakes for the 12 months form November through October?

A. 0.40x
B. 1.20x
C. 1.40x
D. 1.60x
E. 3.20x

Let x=10.
Total rakes produced over 4 months November through February = 4*10 = 40.
From March through October, the number shipped = x/2 = 10/2 = 5 rakes per month.
Thus, starting in March, the number of rakes to be stored is reduced by 5 each month.
Thus, the number stored over the remaining 8 months March through October = 35+30+25+20+15+10+5+0 = 140.
Total storage cost at 10 cents per rake = 10*140 = 1400 cents = 14 dollars. This is our target.

Now we plug x=10 into the answers to see which yields our target of 14.

Only answer choice C works:
1.4x = 1.4*10 = 14.

The correct answer is C.

Thouraya · Answer

Can an Expert please explain this problem? Thanks

Thouraya · Answer

Can an Expert please explain this problem? Thanks

GMATGuruNY · Answer

imane81 wrote:Your input here will be much appreciated. Thank you

A certain business produced x rakes each month form November through February and shipped x/2 rakes at the beginning of each month from March through October. The business paid no storage costs for the rakes from November through February, but it paid storage costs of $0.10 per rake each month from March through October for the rakes that had not been shipped. In terms of x, what was the total storage cost, in dollars, that the business paid for the rakes for the 12 months form November through October?

A. 0.40x
B. 1.20x
C. 1.40x
D. 1.60x
E. 3.20x

Let x=10.
Total rakes produced over 4 months November through February = 4*10 = 40.
From March through October, the number shipped = x/2 = 10/2 = 5 rakes per month.
Thus, starting in March, the number of rakes to be stored is reduced by 5 each month.
Thus, the number stored over the remaining 8 months March through October = 35+30+25+20+15+10+5+0 = 140.
Total storage cost at 10 cents per rake = 10*140 = 1400 cents = 14 dollars. This is our target.

Now we plug x=10 into the answers to see which yields our target of 14.

Only answer choice C works:
1.4x = 1.4*10 = 14.

The correct answer is C.

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winniethepooh · Answer

Is there an assumption here that the business pays no storage cost for the period of November to February?

bblast · Answer

Hi Mitch,

I failed to reach a solution in the cat as i took .40$ as the cost for march and not .35$. I know test pressure caused this error, however even looking at the question otherwise I am not too convinced about it. What if the march stuff was shipped on 31st march and we still had to pay the storage cost for all .40$ rakes ?

Anaira Mitch · Answer

Please find solution in algebraic form.

Brent@GMATPrepNow · Answer

A certain business produced x rakes each month from November through February and shipped x/2 rakes at the beginning of each month from March through October. The business paid no storage costs for the rakes from November to February, but it paid storage costs of 0.10$ per rake each month from March through October for the rakes that had not been shipped. In terms of x, what was the total storage cost, in dollars, that the business paid for the rakes for the 12 months from November through October?

A) 0.40x
B) 1.20x
C) 1.40x
D) 1.60x
E) 3.20x

In the 4 months leading up to March, the company PRODUCES 4x rakes (4 months at x/month = 4x)

On March 1, x/2 rakes are SHIPPED, leaving 3.5x rakes for which the company must pay storage fees.
On April 1, x/2 rakes are SHIPPED, leaving 3x rakes for which the company must pay storage fees.
On May 1, x/2 rakes are SHIPPED, leaving 2.5x rakes for which the company must pay storage fees.
etc... (this pattern continues until no rakes remain).

The total NUMBER of rakes (for which storage fees are paid) = 3.5x + 3x + 2.5x . . . + 1x + 0.5x
= 14x

The charge is $0.1/rake, so the total FEE = (0.1)(14x) = [spoiler]1.4x = C[/spoiler]

Cheers,
Brent

Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com

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