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If 60 percent of a rectangular floor

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by Vincen » Sun Oct 08, 2017 10:58 am
If 60 percent of a rectangular floor is covered by a rectangular rug that is 9 feet by 12 feet, what is the area, in square feet, of the floor?

(A) 65
(B) 108
(C) 180
(D) 270
(E) 300

The OA is C.

What is the equation I should establish to solve this PS question?
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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sun Oct 08, 2017 11:02 am
Vincen wrote:If 60 percent of a rectangular floor is covered by a rectangular rug that is 9 feet by 12 feet, what is the area, in square feet, of the floor?

(A) 65
(B) 108
(C) 180
(D) 270
(E) 300
Area of rectangular RUG = (base)(height) = (9)(12) =108
This RUG covers 60% of the FLOOR
In other words, 108 = 60% of the area of the FLOOR
Or we can write: 108 = 0.6(area of FLOOR)

So, 108 /0.6 = area of FLOOR
Evaluate to get: 180 = area of FLOOR

Answer: C

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by Brent@GMATPrepNow » Sun Oct 08, 2017 11:07 am
Vincen wrote:If 60 percent of a rectangular floor is covered by a rectangular rug that is 9 feet by 12 feet, what is the area, in square feet, of the floor?

(A) 65
(B) 108
(C) 180
(D) 270
(E) 300
PRO TIP :D
Once we know that So, 108 /0.6 = area of FLOOR, we can apply some number sense to avoid dividing 0.6 into 108

Notice that 108 /0.5 = 216
Since 0.6 is a bit bigger than 0.5, we know that 108 /0.6 will be a little bit less than 216
Check the answer choices...only answer choice C is a bit less than 216

ASIDE: This shortcut works, because the answer choices are nicely spread apart.

For more on this strategy, watch our math tips video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GqcJGUVIk4

Cheers,
Brent
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by [email protected] » Sun Oct 08, 2017 11:17 am
Hi Vincen,

With this question, we can use the answer choices 'against' the prompt and TEST THE ANSWERS. To start, we know that the area of the rug is...

(9 ft)(12 ft) = 108 ft^2

We're told that this value represents 60% of the area of the rug. Since we're asked to find the area of the rug, 108 is 60% of one of the answer choices.

Since 60% of 200 = 120, we're clearly looking for an answer that is LESS than200 (but not that much less).

Let's TEST Answer C: 180

(.6)(180) = 108

This is an exact match for what we were told, so this must be the answer.

Final Answer: C

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by EconomistGMATTutor » Mon Oct 09, 2017 2:26 pm
Vincen wrote:If 60 percent of a rectangular floor is covered by a rectangular rug that is 9 feet by 12 feet, what is the area, in square feet, of the floor?

(A) 65
(B) 108
(C) 180
(D) 270
(E) 300

The OA is C.

What is the equation I should establish to solve this PS question?
Hi Vincen,
Let's take a look at your question.

The question states,
"If 60 percent of a rectangular floor is covered by a rectangular rug that is 9 feet by 12 feet."
Let's first find the area of the rectangular rug.
Area of rectangular rug = 9 x 12 = 108 square feet

The area of rug is 60% of the area of floor.
Let area of floor be 'x' square feet.

Then,
60% of area of floor = area of rug
(60%)(x) = 108
(60/100) x = 108
(3/5) x = 108
x = 108 (5/3)
x = 36 (5)
x = 180 square feet

Area of floor = 180 square feet

Therefore, Option C is correct.

I am available if you'd like any follow up.
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hi

by Jeff@TargetTestPrep » Mon Dec 11, 2017 9:16 am
Vincen wrote:If 60 percent of a rectangular floor is covered by a rectangular rug that is 9 feet by 12 feet, what is the area, in square feet, of the floor?

(A) 65
(B) 108
(C) 180
(D) 270
(E) 300
We are given that 60 percent of a rectangular floor is covered by a 9-foot by 12-foot rug. Thus, the area of the rug is 9 x 12 = 108 square feet. To determine the area of the floor, we can create the following equation in which the total area of the floor is n:

0.6n = 108

6n = 1,080

n = 1,080/6 = 180 square feet

Answer: C

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Head of GMAT Instruction
[email protected]

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