At the start of the day the amount of water in two identical

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BTGmoderatorDC: Moderator; Posts: 7187; Joined: Thu Sep 07, 2017 4:43 pmFollowed by: 23 members

by BTGmoderatorDC » Sun Jul 22, 2018 2:38 am

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At the start of the day the amount of water in two identical buckets is 3 liters in bucket A and 2 liters in bucket B. If x liters are then added to A and 4x liters are added to B so that the ratio of A to B is 3 to 10, how much water has been added to bucket B?

A. 4 liter
B. 12 liters
C 16 liters
D. 48 liters
E. 72 liters

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bucket ratio

by GMATGuruNY » Sun Jul 22, 2018 3:15 am

BTGmoderatorDC wrote:At the start of the day the amount of water in two identical buckets is 3 liters in bucket A and 2 liters in bucket B. If x liters are then added to A and 4x liters are added to B so that the ratio of A to B is 3 to 10, how much water has been added to bucket B?

A. 4 liter
B. 12 liters
C 16 liters
D. 48 liters
E. 72 liters

Since the resulting ratio = A:B = 3:10, and all of the values in the problem are integers, the correct answer must yield a multiple of 10 when added to the 2 original liters in B.
Only D is viable:
48+2 = 50 liters.

The correct answer is D.

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by [email protected] » Sun Jul 22, 2018 9:16 am

Hi All,

We're told that at the start of the day the amount of water in two identical buckets is 3 liters in bucket A and 2 liters in bucket B, X liters are then added to A and 4X liters are added to B so that the ratio of A to B is 3 to 10. We're asked for the amount of water that has been ADDED to bucket B. This question can be solved in a number of different ways, including by TESTing THE ANSWERS. Let's TEST Answer B first.

Answer B: 12 liters
IF... 12 liters was added to Bucket B, then 4X = 12 and X = 3
Thus, Bucket A holds 3 + (3) = 6 liters and Bucket B holds 2 + (12) = 14 liters.
This is a ratio of 6:14 = 3:8. This is TOO BIG (the ratio is supposed to be 3:10), so we need Bucket B to hold MORE water. Let's Test Answer D next...

Answer D: 48 liters
IF... 48 liters was added to Bucket B, then 4X = 48 and X = 12
Thus, Bucket A holds 3 + (12) = 15 liters and Bucket B holds 2 + (48) = 50 liters.
This is a ratio of 15:50 = 3:10. This is an exact match for what we were told, so this must be the answer!

Final Answer: D

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by Jeff@TargetTestPrep » Wed Jul 25, 2018 4:34 pm

BTGmoderatorDC wrote:At the start of the day the amount of water in two identical buckets is 3 liters in bucket A and 2 liters in bucket B. If x liters are then added to A and 4x liters are added to B so that the ratio of A to B is 3 to 10, how much water has been added to bucket B?

A. 4 liter
B. 12 liters
C 16 liters
D. 48 liters
E. 72 liters

The initial amount of water in bucket A is 3 liters, and the final amount in bucket A is (3 + x). Similarly, the initial amount of water in bucket B is 2 liters, and the final amount in bucket B is (2 + 4x). We know that the ratio of the final amounts of water in the buckets is 3 : 10, or 3/10. Thus, we can create the equation:

(3 + x)/(2 + 4x) = 3/10

10(3 + x) = 3(2 + 4x)

30 + 10x = 6 + 12x

24 = 2x

12 = x

So 4(12) = 48 liters of water are added to bucket B.

Answer: D

Jeffrey Miller
Head of GMAT Instruction
[email protected]

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