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by Uva@90 » Sun Dec 15, 2013 2:51 am
A square wooden plaque has a square brass inlay in the center ,leaving a wooden strip of uniform width around the brass square.if the ratio of the brass area to the wooden area is 25 to 39,which of the following could be the width ,in inches ,of the wooden strip.
I. 1
II. 3
III. 4

A. I only
B. II only
C. III only
D. I and III only
E. I,II and III

OA E

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Uva.
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by GMATGuruNY » Sun Dec 15, 2013 4:27 am
A square wooden plaque has a brass inlay in the center, leaving a wooden strip of uniform width around the brass square. If the ratio of the brass area to the wooden area is 25 to 39, which of the following could be the width, in inches of the wooden strip?

I. 1
II. 3
III. 4

a. I only
b. II only
c. I and II only
d. I and III only
e. I, II, and III
No math is needed here.
Just use common sense.
Why couldn't the width of the strip be ANY value?
We could choose a width for the strip -- ANY width we want -- then shrink or expand the inlay until the ratio of inlay area:strip area = 25:39.

The correct answer is E.
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by Uva@90 » Sun Dec 15, 2013 5:00 am
GMATGuruNY wrote:
A square wooden plaque has a brass inlay in the center, leaving a wooden strip of uniform width around the brass square. If the ratio of the brass area to the wooden area is 25 to 39, which of the following could be the width, in inches of the wooden strip?

I. 1
II. 3
III. 4

a. I only
b. II only
c. I and II only
d. I and III only
e. I, II, and III
No math is needed here.
Just use common sense.
Why couldn't the width of the strip be ANY value?
We could choose a width for the strip -- ANY width we want -- then shrink or expand the inlay until the ratio of inlay area:strip area = 25:39.

The correct answer is E.
Ah....You are correct Mitch.
Thanks a lot.

Regards,
Uva.
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sun Dec 15, 2013 7:15 am
As Mitch noted, the strip can have any length.
For the visual learners out here, here are some diagrams to support this.

Let's say we want to create a plaque with a square brass inlay in the center, and we want the brass to wood ratio to be 25:39

Let's begin a square wooden board with ANY dimensions.
Image

Now place a square brass inlay in the middle of the wooden board, and keep adjusting the size of the brass inlay until we have a brass to wood ratio that is 25:39
Image

At this point, if we shrink or expand the plaque . . .
Image
. . . the brass to wood ratio will remain at 25:39

So, as you can see, this plaque can be ANY size, which means the width of the wooden strip can have ANY measurement.

Answer: E

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Brent
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