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Coins in the pocket

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by metallicafan » Tue Mar 06, 2012 8:08 am
Jayden has two coins in his pocket, each of which are either a
penny, a nickel, a dime, or a quarter, and they are not the
same. If the Â…first coin is worth ten cents less than four times
the value of the second coin, what is the total value of the
two coins?
(A) $0.06
(B) $0.11
(C) $0.15
(D) $0.30
(E) $0.35

Is there an algebraic approach?, or just trial and error?
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Tue Mar 06, 2012 8:43 am
metallicafan wrote:Jayden has two coins in his pocket, each of which are either a
penny, a nickel, a dime, or a quarter, and they are not the
same. If the Â…first coin is worth ten cents less than four times
the value of the second coin, what is the total value of the
two coins?
(A) $0.06
(B) $0.11
(C) $0.15
(D) $0.30
(E) $0.35

Is there an algebraic approach?, or just trial and error?
This would be a trial and error question.

Notice that, if there happened to be something called a 90-cent coin, then this question would have 2 possible solutions:
(1) nickel and dime
(2) quarter and 90-cent coin

Similarly, if there happened to be something called a 30-cent coin, then this question would have 2 possible solutions:
(1) nickel and dime
(2) dime and 30-cent coin

Since the question depends on the definition of what constitutes a legitimate coin (defined in the question as a penny, a nickel, a dime, or a quarter), the answer will require us to use trial and error.

Cheers,
Brent
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by vishal.pathak » Sun Mar 11, 2012 12:38 pm
Brent@GMATPrepNow wrote:
metallicafan wrote:Jayden has two coins in his pocket, each of which are either a
penny, a nickel, a dime, or a quarter, and they are not the
same. If the Â…first coin is worth ten cents less than four times
the value of the second coin, what is the total value of the
two coins?
(A) $0.06
(B) $0.11
(C) $0.15
(D) $0.30
(E) $0.35

Is there an algebraic approach?, or just trial and error?
This would be a trial and error question.

Notice that, if there happened to be something called a 90-cent coin, then this question would have 2 possible solutions:
(1) nickel and dime
(2) quarter and 90-cent coin

Similarly, if there happened to be something called a 30-cent coin, then this question would have 2 possible solutions:
(1) nickel and dime
(2) dime and 30-cent coin

Since the question depends on the definition of what constitutes a legitimate coin (defined in the question as a penny, a nickel, a dime, or a quarter), the answer will require us to use trial and error.

Cheers,
Brent
Hi Brent,

Is this a GMAT question? This question requires a candidate to know about dime, nickel etc. I believe these are quantum of American currency. Is a candidate expected to know about these

Thanking you in anticipation of your help

Regards,
Vishal
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Posts: 16207
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sun Mar 11, 2012 12:59 pm
vishal.pathak wrote: Hi Brent,

Is this a GMAT question? This question requires a candidate to know about dime, nickel etc. I believe these are quantum of American currency. Is a candidate expected to know about these

Thanking you in anticipation of your help

Regards,
Vishal
Hi Vishal,

Given that this question requires knowledge of American currency, I'd say that it's too culturally biased to be an official GMAT question.

Also, almost all GMAT math questions can be solved using more than one approach. Since this question basically has only one solution method, it's unlikely that you'd ever see a question like this.

Cheers,
Brent
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