A satellite is composed of 30 modular units, each of...

Expert replies

BTGmoderatorLU: Moderator; Posts: 2575; Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2017 1:50 pmFollowed by: 6 members

by BTGmoderatorLU » Fri Jan 05, 2018 12:55 pm

A satellite is composed of 30 modular units, each of which is equipped with a set of sensors, some of which have been upgraded. Each unit contains the same number of non-upgraded sensors. If the number of non-upgraded sensors on one unit is 1/5 the total number of upgraded sensors on the entire satellite, what fraction of the sensors on the satellite have been upgraded?

A. 5/6
B. 1/5
C. 1/6
D. 1/7
E. 1/24

The OA is D.

I'm confused with this PS question. Experts, any suggestion about the solution? Thanks in advance.

Like this post

Source: Beat The GMAT — Problem Solving | Fri Jan 05, 2018 12:55 pm

DavidG@VeritasPrep: Legendary Member; Posts: 2663; Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 8:25 amFollowed by: 128 members; Location: Boston, MA; Thanked: 1153 times; GMAT Score:770

by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Fri Jan 05, 2018 1:24 pm

LUANDATO wrote:A satellite is composed of 30 modular units, each of which is equipped with a set of sensors, some of which have been upgraded. Each unit contains the same number of non-upgraded sensors. If the number of non-upgraded sensors on one unit is 1/5 the total number of upgraded sensors on the entire satellite, what fraction of the sensors on the satellite have been upgraded?

A. 5/6
B. 1/5
C. 1/6
D. 1/7
E. 1/24

The OA is D.

I'm confused with this PS question. Experts, any suggestion about the solution? Thanks in advance.

Call the total # of upgraded sensors 'u.'
The # of non-upgraded sensors on one unit = (1/5)u
# of non-upgraded inits on 30 units = (1/5)u * 30 = 6u

If there are 'u' upgraded sensors and 6u non-upgraded sensors, then there would be 7u sensors in total. Upgraded/Total = u/7u =1/7. The answer is D

Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor

Veritas Prep Reviews
Save $100 off any live Veritas Prep GMAT Course

Like this post

DavidG@VeritasPrep: Legendary Member; Posts: 2663; Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 8:25 amFollowed by: 128 members; Location: Boston, MA; Thanked: 1153 times; GMAT Score:770

by DavidG@VeritasPrep » Fri Jan 05, 2018 1:32 pm

LUANDATO wrote:A satellite is composed of 30 modular units, each of which is equipped with a set of sensors, some of which have been upgraded. Each unit contains the same number of non-upgraded sensors. If the number of non-upgraded sensors on one unit is 1/5 the total number of upgraded sensors on the entire satellite, what fraction of the sensors on the satellite have been upgraded?

A. 5/6
B. 1/5
C. 1/6
D. 1/7
E. 1/24

The OA is D.

I'm confused with this PS question. Experts, any suggestion about the solution? Thanks in advance.

Or pick an easy number.

Total # of upgraded sensors on 30 units. = 5.
# of non-upgraded sensors on one unit = (1/5)*5 = 1
# of total non-upgraded sensors on 30 units = 1*30 = 30
Total # of sensors = 5 + 30 = 35.
Upgraded/Total = 5/35 = 1/7- The answer is D

Veritas Prep | GMAT Instructor

Veritas Prep Reviews
Save $100 off any live Veritas Prep GMAT Course

Like this post

GMAT/MBA Expert

Brent@GMATPrepNow: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 16207; Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pmFollowed by: 1268 members; Location: Vancouver, BC; Thanked: 5254 times; GMAT Score:770

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Fri Jan 05, 2018 3:14 pm

LUANDATO wrote:A satellite is composed of 30 modular units, each of which is equipped with a set of sensors, some of which have been upgraded. Each unit contains the same number of non-upgraded sensors. If the number of non-upgraded sensors on one unit is 1/5 the total number of upgraded sensors on the entire satellite, what fraction of the sensors on the satellite have been upgraded?

A. 5/6
B. 1/5
C. 1/6
D. 1/7
E. 1/24

Since we're asked to find a certain FRACTION, we can plug in some nice values that meet the given conditions.

Let's say that there's a TOTAL of 5 upgraded sensors on the entire satellite

the number of non-upgraded sensors on one modular unit is 1/5 the TOTAL number of upgraded sensors on the entire satellite
So, the number of non-upgraded sensors on EACH modular unit = (1/5)(5) = 1.

Since there are 30 modular units altogether, the TOTAL number of non-upgraded sensors = (30)(1) = 30.

So, the TOTAL number of sensors = (number of non-upgrades) + (number of upgraded)
= 30 + 5
= 35

What fraction of the sensors on the satellite have been upgraded?
= 5/35
= 1/7

Answer: D

Cheers,
Brent

Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com

Like this post

GMAT/MBA Expert

Brent@GMATPrepNow: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 16207; Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:26 pmFollowed by: 1268 members; Location: Vancouver, BC; Thanked: 5254 times; GMAT Score:770

by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Wed Aug 28, 2019 8:34 am

BTGmoderatorLU wrote:A satellite is composed of 30 modular units, each of which is equipped with a set of sensors, some of which have been upgraded. Each unit contains the same number of non-upgraded sensors. If the number of non-upgraded sensors on one unit is 1/5 the total number of upgraded sensors on the entire satellite, what fraction of the sensors on the satellite have been upgraded?

A. 5/6
B. 1/5
C. 1/6
D. 1/7
E. 1/24

A student asked me to add some graphics to my solution, so......

A satellite is composed of 30 modular units, each of which is equipped with a set of sensors, some of which have been upgraded. Each unit contains the same number of non-upgraded sensors.
So, here's a sketch of 30 modular units.

The circles inside each unit represent sensors. The circles with black centers represent NON-upgraded sensors, and the empty red circles represent upgraded sensors.
For my sketch, I placed ONE NON-upgraded sensor in each of the 30 modular units (since we're told that each unit contains the same number of non-upgraded sensors)

The number of non-upgraded sensors on ONE UNIT is 1/5 the total number of upgraded sensors on the ENTIRE satellite
This tells us that there aren't many upgraded sensors among the satellite's 30 modular units
So, let's REDRAW the diagram to start with 1 NON-upgraded sensor in each of the 30 modular units

Okay, so if there's 1 NON-upgraded sensor in EACH of the 30 modular units, then there is a TOTAL of 5 UPgraded sensors on the ENTIRE satellite.
So, let's add 5 UPgraded sensors to our diagram to get:

At this point, our diagram meets all of the conditions in the question.

What fraction of the sensors on the satellite have been upgraded?
We can see that we have a total of 35 sensors, and 5 of them are upgraded.
So, the fraction = 5/35 = 1/7

Answer: D

Cheers,
Brent

Brent Hanneson - Creator of GMATPrepNow.com

Like this post

Post new topic Post Reply

• Page 1 of 1

GMAT Course Reviews

560 reviews

1168 reviews

431 reviews

359 reviews

147 reviews

5/5

5 Star (560 Reviews)

"Target Test Prep is the closest to the official version of the GMAT exam, about 99% accuracy in terms of the quality and quantity of information. The course has excellently created singular sets of focused lessons and tests for every possible topic that one could come across in the official GMAT exam."

"The TTP course maximizes the efficiency of the time you spend studying. It will take time and effort but I could almost guarantee that if you complete the course exactly as it is laid out you will get an amazing score. They also have a very responsive team willing to help with any questions you might have."

"TTP has two things that I think no other test prep company offers: A teaching approach that reinforces understanding and an attitude that will give you the mental preparedness needed to succeed on the test. TTP gives you a deep understanding of the concept you need to know while teaching you how to think."

Write a Review