BREAKING: Target Test Prep releases Brand New 2026 On Demand GMAT prep course

Redeem

Fractions

This topic has expert replies
Post new topic Post Reply
Previous Topic Next Topic
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2012 1:08 am

Fractions

by Aishwarya1204 » Mon Oct 15, 2012 2:39 am
Cant figure out what approach to take with this one. Tried it algebraically, got too lengthy and couldn't decide what numbers to pick !


Alice's take home pay last year was the same each month, and she saved the same fraction of her take home pay each month. The total amount of money that she had saved at the end of the year was 3 times the amount of that portion of her monthly take home pay that she did not save. What fraction of her take home pay did she save each month.

Answer is [spoiler] 1/5 [/spoiler]
Top
Source: — Problem Solving |

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 3835
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:00 pm
Location: Milpitas, CA
Thanked: 1854 times
Followed by:523 members
GMAT Score:770

by Anurag@Gurome » Mon Oct 15, 2012 2:40 am
Aishwarya1204 wrote:Cant figure out what approach to take with this one. Tried it algebraically, got too lengthy and couldn't decide what numbers to pick !


Alice's take home pay last year was the same each month, and she saved the same fraction of her take home pay each month. The total amount of money that she had saved at the end of the year was 3 times the amount of that portion of her monthly take home pay that she did not save. What fraction of her take home pay did she save each month.

Answer is [spoiler] 1/5 [/spoiler]
Say, the fraction of monthly take home pay Alice saved each month = x
and the fraction of monthly take home pay Alice did not saved each month = y
Thus, (x + y) = 1

Now, the total amount she saved at the end of the year = 3 times the amount of that portion of her monthly take home that she did not save.

Thus, 12x = 3y => y = 4x

Replacing this in the first equation, (x + 4x) = 1 => x = [spoiler]1/5[/spoiler]

The correct answer is D.
Anurag Mairal, Ph.D., MBA
GMAT Expert, Admissions and Career Guidance
Gurome, Inc.
1-800-566-4043 (USA)

Join Our Facebook Groups
GMAT with Gurome
https://www.facebook.com/groups/272466352793633/
Admissions with Gurome
https://www.facebook.com/groups/461459690536574/
Career Advising with Gurome
https://www.facebook.com/groups/360435787349781/
Top
User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 15539
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 12:04 pm
Location: New York, NY
Thanked: 13060 times
Followed by:1906 members
GMAT Score:790

by GMATGuruNY » Mon Oct 15, 2012 3:25 am
Alice's take-home pay last year was the same each month, and she saved the same fraction of her take-home pay each month. The total amount of the money that she had saved at the end of the year was 3 times the amount of that portion of her monthly take-home pay that she did not save. If all the money that she saved last year was from her take home pay, what fraction of her take-home pay did she save each month?

1/2
1/3
1/4
1/5
1/6
We can plug in the answers, which represent the fraction saved each month.

Answer choice C: 1/4
Let the monthly pay = 4.
Amount saved each month = (1/4)4 = 1, so the amount not saved each month = 3.
Amount saved over the whole year = 12*1 = 12.
(Total saved)/(monthly not saved) = 12/3 = 4.
Since it is required that (total saved)/(monthly not saved) = 3, too high a fraction is being saved.
Eliminate A, B and C.

Answer choice D: 1/5
Let the monthly pay = 5.
Amount saved each month = (1/5)5 = 1, so the amount not saved each month = 4.
Amount saved over the whole year = 12*1 = 12.
(Total saved)/(monthly not saved) = 12/4 = 3.
Success!

The correct answer is D.
Private tutor exclusively for the GMAT and GRE, with over 20 years of experience.
Followed here and elsewhere by over 1900 test-takers.
I have worked with students based in the US, Australia, Taiwan, China, Tajikistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia -- a long list of countries.
My students have been admitted to HBS, CBS, Tuck, Yale, Stern, Fuqua -- a long list of top programs.

As a tutor, I don't simply teach you how I would approach problems.
I unlock the best way for YOU to solve problems.

For more information, please email me (Mitch Hunt) at [email protected].
Student Review #1
Student Review #2
Student Review #3
Top
Post new topic Post Reply
• Page 1 of 1