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100 points for $49 worth of Veritas practice GMATs FREE VERITAS PRACTICE GMAT EXAMS Earn 10 Points Per Post Earn 10 Points Per Thanks Earn 10 Points Per Upvote ## Between the first day of May and last day in June, the price tagged by: BTGmoderatorLU ##### This topic has 2 expert replies and 0 member replies ### Top Member ## Between the first day of May and last day in June, the price ## Timer 00:00 ## Your Answer A B C D E ## Global Stats Difficult Source: Princeton Review Between the first day of May and the last day in June, the price per kilogram of Melange, a seasoning mix, first declined by 20 percent and then increased by 50 percent. During this same period, the price per liter of Blue, a spring water, first increased by 20 percent and then declined by 50 percent. If at the end of June, the prices were the same, then, at the beginning of May, the price per kilogram for Blue was what percent of the price per liter of Melange? A. 2 B. 30 C. 50 D. 100 E. 200 The OA is E ### GMAT/MBA Expert GMAT Instructor Joined 25 May 2010 Posted: 15381 messages Followed by: 1872 members Upvotes: 13060 GMAT Score: 790 BTGmoderatorLU wrote: Source: Princeton Review Between the first day of May and the last day in June, the price per kilogram of Melange, a seasoning mix, first declined by 20 percent and then increased by 50 percent. During this same period, the price per liter of Blue, a spring water, first increased by 20 percent and then declined by 50 percent. If at the end of June, the prices were the same, then, at the beginning of May, the price per kilogram for Blue was what percent of the price per liter of Melange? A. 2 B. 30 C. 50 D. 100 E. 200 We can PLUG IN THE ANSWERS. When the correct answer is plugged in, Blue's resulting price and Melange's resulting price will be EQUAL. D: 100 Here, Blue's initial price is 100% of Melange's initial price, implying that the two initial prices are equal. Let Blue = May =$100.
From May to June:
Blue's $100 initial price increases by 20% to$120 and then decreases by 50% to $60. Melange's$100 initial price increases by 50% to $150 and then decreases by 20% to$120.
In this case, Blue's resulting price is LESS THAN Melange's resulting price.
Implication:
For the two resulting prices to be equal, Blue's initial price must be a higher percentage of Melange's initial price.

Algebra:

Blue increased by 20 percent and then declined by 50 percent.
B * 120/100 * 50/100 = B * 6/5 * 1/2 = (3/5)B.
Melange declined by 20 percent and then increased by 50 percent.
M * 80/100 * 150/100 = M * 4/5 * 3/2 = (6/5)M.
Since the two resulting prices are equal, we get:
(3/5)B = (6/5)M
3B = 6M
B = 2M
Since B is twice the value of M, Blue's initial price is equal to 200% of Melange's initial price.

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### GMAT/MBA Expert

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BTGmoderatorLU wrote:
Source: Princeton Review

Between the first day of May and the last day in June, the price per kilogram of Melange, a seasoning mix, first declined by 20 percent and then increased by 50 percent. During this same period, the price per liter of Blue, a spring water, first increased by 20 percent and then declined by 50 percent. If at the end of June, the prices were the same, then, at the beginning of May, the price per kilogram for Blue was what percent of the price per liter of Melange?

A. 2
B. 30
C. 50
D. 100
E. 200

The OA is E
We can let the price per kilogram of Melange and price per liter of Blue at the beginning of May be m and b, respectively. We can create the equation:

w x 0.8 x 1.5 = b x 1.2 x 0.5

1.2w = 0.6b

2w = b

Since b = 2w, b is 200% of w.

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